Paul Gayler

Serving Wine with Cheese

Appears in
A Passion for Cheese
A Passion for Cheese

By Paul Gayler

Published 1997

  • About

Alain Senderens, the well-known Parisian chef-restaurateur, regards the partnership of cheese and wine as so important that he displays a list of famous cheese and wine marriages in his restaurant. Ultimately, however, personal taste should play a part - although a few general rules hold good, such as strong cheeses need a full-bodied wine while mild ones are better matched with a light wine.

One common fallacy that I am happy to ignore is that all cheese goes with all red wine. This isn’t the case. You must take into account the individual nature of both the cheese and the wine. Blanket statements about cheese and wine being good companions refer to everyday or indifferent wines. Certainly if a wine has negative qualities, these will be masked by cheese, especially a strong-flavoured one. By the same token, a powerful cheese will overwhelm the exquisite subtleties of a fine wine.