While most run to or away from cheese for different reasons, we at RRO are cheese fanatics! A meal with us will involve copious amounts of wine and cheese. Why you ask? Because everything tastes better with the bittersweet taste of a peppery Shiraz and rich Gouda.
Wine and cheese is a match made in heaven, a central character for any evening of entertainment, and a quick fix appetizer for when colleagues drop by for a pre-dinner drink. Enough to fill you up, get the heart pumping and a great way to get those awkward silences out of the way - "Did you know that one glass of red wine is equal to an hour at the gym, and cheese is actually a good fat, so we are practically working out right now!”
Come rain or shine, a crisp cold evening or a hot summer afternoon, wine and cheese will never fail you. However, you might fail this heroic combo with the wrong casting call. Yes, there is a type of cheese that goes with a type of wine, and the sooner you figure it out, well, the sooner you will be the Martha Stuart of entertaining at home.
This isn't rocket science, and we have a quick check list for you to refer to.
Now wine, much like cheese, differs in body, content, texture, acidity and structure, and sticking to a few basic rules will help you master this pairing in no time.
Younger cheese is lighter and milkier. As they age, the moisture tends to dry out and they become richer and more savoury. As a cheese ages, it also develops new dimensions to its flavour. While Brie remain gooey as it ages, the flavour becomes earthier with time. Blue Cheese gets more pungent and certainly gets a kick in it.
Similarly, with age, (just as we hope to) wine becomes bolder, with more depth and complexity. Young wines have a freshness to them, with light tones of fruit, flowers and spices. The more time the wine has spent in the bottle, they pick up the smokey earthy tones of its minerals and composition.
So younger cheeses complement the youthful, light-hearted notes of young wine. Older cheeses need a more experienced, fuller bodied wine that can match up to their kick and fervour.
