Tips for easy, elegant wine and cheese pairings

Cheese used to be easy. Not too long ago, you’d spritz some from a can or peel open plastic-wrapped slices and you had yourself some cheese. Now, in addition to these examples of American culinary ingenuity, even chain grocers offer a world of cheeses in aged, shredded, crumbled, herbed and smoked varieties. What’s a harried cheese lover to do?

You can make your cheese selection easy again with a few guidelines, the first being, pair your cheese with the right wine. I wish I had a bottle of good bubbly for every guest in my wine and cheese classes (see information below) who says something like, “Wow! I never knew I liked blue cheese!”

The next guideline is a no-brainer:

Follow the logic

Pair an international region’s cheese with that region’s wine. For centuries, Old World cooks and cheesemakers worked together so that everyone had something delicious for dinner. Why fight it?

France’s Burgundy region is famous for Chardonnay-based wines (from subregions including Macon and Chablis) and their cow’s milk cheese including Delice de Bourgogne, along with Gruyere and Compte from neighboring regions.

You can translate this tradition by pairing a domestic low- to no-oak Chardonnay with cow’s milk cheese. My household favorite is Tillamook “Maker’s Reserve” 2019 Cheddar, available in many groceries, with Sonoma County’s gently oaked Raeburn Chardonnay, under $20.

The Loire Valley is famous for Sauvignon Blanc-base wines (including Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumè) paired with goat’s milk cheese (called ‘chevre’). Unoaked Sauvignon Blanc from the U.S. or Chile (see Los Vascos featured in our Nov. 6 column) are international options.

From Italy’s Veneto region, versatile Prosecco pairs with the regional Asiago cheese, with Parmesan and the “stinky” Taleggio. Prosecco’s wide availability makes no translation necessary!

The biochemistry of Bacchus

White wine, with its refreshing acid, is the traditional cheese partner. But red wine lovers can enjoy high fat cheese (Cheddar, many blue cheeses) to bind with red wine’s astringent tannin.

Ask your merchant for a red with soft tannin and fruit forward flavors, or look for Argentina’s quaffable Domaine Bousquet “Reserve Organic” Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, with a mouthful of berry flavor and lush texture, from a pioneer in organic winegrowing. It’s also delicious with a juicy burger beneath the cheese. (Widely available, about $18.99.)

Opposites attract

For a postprandial cheese plate, turn to the flavor opposite that we’re hard-wired to crave, sugar and salt. Offer blue cheese (which is generally high in salt) with sweet Moscato d’Asti, which adds scrubbing bubbles to refresh the palate.

Sweeter for the sweets

Finally, drizzle honey over your blue cheese served with Moscato for the most decadent guideline of all: Serve sweeter wine with your sweets.

Easy and elegant

While the vast cheese selections at Europe’s finest tables need their own sommelier to navigate, you can create an easy and elegant cheese plate with these tips:

• Pair one wine with one to three cheeses of the same milk in different styles. For instance, serve a Chardonnay-based wine with cow’s milk cheeses including soft Brie, hard Parmesan and/or medium Gruyère.

• Garnish with grapes, tree or stone fruit, such as pears or nectarines; no melon or citrus.

• Add simple crackers or bread, warmed to crunchy if possible.

• For an appetizer or post-meal plate, plan on up to three ounces of cheese per person total; for dinner, up to six ounces per person total.

And, if you’d like The Chopping Block (4747 North Lincoln Ave., Chicago) to do the work, join me from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13, for Culinary Heaven: Wine & Cheese Pairing, a mix-and-match of five hand-crafted wines with five cheeses. For information and to register, visit thechoppingblock.com.

You’re guaranteed to hear someone say something like, “Wow! I never knew I liked blue cheese!” and it might be you!

• Mary Ross is an Advanced Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers), a Certified Wine Educator (Society of Wine Educators) and a recipient of Wine Spectator’s “Grand Award of Excellence.” Write to her at food@dailyherald.com.