🔑 Quick Answer: The wine to drink with cheese is usually white, because about 75% of cheeses do better with a clean white than with red. Match the weight of the wine to the weight of the cheese, pour sparkling across a mixed board, and save sweet wine for blue.
Choosing the wine to drink with cheese is the part of hosting people most often gets backward, usually by reaching for a big red. We put this guide together with our friends at California Grown and California Wines, and we brought in a California wine expert to settle the questions we kept getting asked.
The short version: most cheese wants white. The longer version is below, along with four California pairings we go back to.
Best for: friend groups and couples; food & wine lovers; special occasions
Why Trust Us
I’m Aida Mollenkamp, and I grew up in the Golden State in a wine-loving family. I studied wine at the Cornell Hotel School and hold WSET Level 2 in wine. Before founding Salt & Wind, I was Food Editor at CHOW magazine, where I ran the professional test kitchen and honed my expertise in cooking and wine.
For the pairing principles below, I consulted Amanda McCrossin, a California wine expert and sommelier who worked the floor at Press in Napa before moving to full-time wine writing and teaching.
At Salt & Wind Travel, we plan food-focused trips through California wine country, and we build tastings and cheesemaker visits into those itineraries. We’re working with our friends at California Grown and California Wines to bring you a California edition cheese and wine party.
Wine To Drink With Cheese, Style By Style
Okay, first things first: choose the wine to drink with cheese by the cheese’s style. To help you get that down, we turned to our friend, California wine expert and sommelier Amanda McCrossin.
She encourages you to start by thinking about how you will serve the cheese and wine. As in, will it be one wine per cheese? A larger cheese board with one wine to pair with them all? Or are you serving cheese for dessert?
If it’s one cheese per wine, go ahead down to our cheese and wine pairings below to see some of her recommendations. If you’re doing one larger cheese board with one wine, Amanda recommends a fresh, fruity, gently oaked white like this Merry Edwards Sauvignon Blanc. Here are her other pointers:
| Cheese style | For example | Pour |
|---|---|---|
| Fresh | Goat cheese, burrata | Sauvignon Blanc |
| Bloomy rind | Brie, Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam | Sparkling, or a California Chardonnay |
| Semi-firm | Young Manchego, Gouda | Chenin Blanc, or a light Pinot Noir |
| Hard aged | Parmigiano Reggiano, San Joaquin Gold | Chardonnay with weight, or vintage sparkling |
| Blue | Point Reyes Blue | Port, or another sweet wine |
Most Cheese Wants White Wine
If you’re asking yourself what wine to drink with cheese, McCrossin has answers. She says about “75% of cheeses are going to want white wine.” When you’re serving an assortment of cheese, she suggests going for something more neutral (unoaked and not overly aromatic), with a touch of acidity and not much richness (think a cleaner Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot Gris).
Sparkling Wine Is Always A Good Bet
Many cheeses are salty, fatty, and a bit acidic, so a clean, sparkling wine can cut through it and elevate the flavors. So, when in doubt about what wine to drink with cheese, sparkling is always a safe bet.
Opt For A Lighter-Bodied, Low-Tannin Red
Okay, let’s get one thing straight: red wine does go with cheese. Not all red wines pair well. A lighter-bodied, lower-tannin wine is preferable if you desire red wine. Opting for a Cabernet that’s incredibly heavy in tannin will overwhelm your cheeses, so your best bets are Pinot Noir, Grenache, and a lighter Cabernet Franc.
Match The Color Of The Wine And Cheese
Another tip for figuring out what wine to drink with cheese is to match the colors. In other words, a lighter, whiter cheese will go well with a light-colored wine like fresh goat cheese and Sauvignon Blanc. A Gouda with a yellow tinge pairs well with a more golden wine like Chardonnay.
Blue Cheeses Love Sweet Wine
A study in contrasts, the salty tang of blue cheese pairs perfectly with Port. You could also go with a red wine, so grab your Pinot Noir, Cabernet Franc, or even a mellower Cabernet Sauvignon.
Four Must-Try California Cheese And Wine Pairings
California knows a thing or two about cheese, as it’s been made in the Golden State for more than 200 years. Today, more than 50 cheesemakers produce more than 250 styles of cheese, so there’s a lot to explore when you travel to California.
There is even a Cheese Trail Map that you can use, so you know you are in the presence of cheese whenever you are in California!
Here are a few must-try California cheeses that are right at home on a cheeseboard. We’re sharing these in the order we think you should eat them (as in mildest to fullest flavored), along with a few flavor combinations we adore:
- Cowgirl Creamery Mt. Tam: This triple-cream, bloomy-rind cow’s milk cheese is one of the most beloved cheeses in the Golden State. It’s buttery, creamy, grassy, and slightly tangy, and is delicious with salted crackers and fresh Fuyu persimmons. Serve it with sparkling white wine, a California Chardonnay, or a lighter red like Pinot Noir or Grenache.
- Stuyt Farmstead Diamond Reserve is a raw milk cheese aged over nine months, giving it plenty of crystalline texture. Serve it with dried orchard fruit and perhaps some prosciutto, and pair it with a white wine with a little more weight, like a Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc. The overall flavor is rich caramel with butterscotch notes.
- Fiscalini Farmstead San Joaquin Gold: Next, we have the award-winning Fiscalini Farmstead San Joaquin Gold. This Italian-style cheese has a natural thin rind and a buttery tawny color. Made over 100 years ago, this cheese has a buttery color, mild sweetness, and nutty flavors. Serve it topped with a drizzle of honey, a few chopped pistachios, and some mandarin or orange zest. Because it’s aged, it’s a natural with a vintage sparkling like the Roederer Estate L’Ermitage 2013.
- Point Reyes Blue: This sweet, fresh milk blue cheese has a medium pungency and is fabulous with fig jam and walnuts or almonds. Blue cheeses love to be paired with sweet wine (see above), but you can also pair it with a red wine like the Caladan Cabernet Franc, which has savory elements and is richer than Cabernet Francs from the Loire.
How Much Cheese And How To Serve It
Plan on one to two ounces of each cheese per person, and buy three cheeses for the board or five for the meal. We work out quantities by party size in our guide to making a cheese board.
Take the cheese out of the fridge 30 minutes before serving, and give each cheese its own knife so the blue doesn’t touch the brie. Each style wants a different cut, and we cover how to cut and arrange each one separately.
Crafting A Seasonal Cheese Board
Now that we’ve nailed down which wine to drink with cheese, let’s talk about the cheese board itself. One of the saddest things that happens to cheese boards is when they’re generic and seasonless. It’s a shame because a cheese board is a great way to embrace seasonality.
Bring out the raspberries and fresh goat cheese in Spring, marinated tomatoes and fresh ricotta in summer, and pomegranates and persimmons in the fall.
For a California-themed fall cheese board, hone in on fruit like pomegranates, persimmons, pears, and apples. Next, layer in some dried fruit, be it prunes, figs, or dates, and a mix of nuts like pistachios, almonds, and walnuts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most cheese goes with white wine. About 75% of cheeses do better with a clean, unoaked white than with a red, because acidity cuts fat and salt while tannin fights them. Sparkling wine is the safest single bottle for a mixed board, and it works from the first cheese to the last.
For one bottle and one cheese, pair a dry sparkling wine with a bloomy-rind cheese like Brie; the bubbles cut through the cream, and the wine stays out of the way. If you would rather drink red, pair a light Pinot Noir with a semi-firm cheese such as young Manchego or Gouda.
Pour a lighter red with low tannin, which means Pinot Noir, Grenache, or a lighter Cabernet Franc. A big, high-tannin Cabernet Sauvignon will overwhelm most of what is on the board. If you want one red that covers a whole cheese board, make it Pinot Noir.
Blue cheese wants sweetness. Port is the classic pairing, and the salty tang of the blue against the sweet wine is the point. If you would rather stay dry, a Cabernet Franc or a mellow Cabernet Sauvignon will hold up.
Bring a bottle that works with a range of cheeses rather than one built for a single cheese, like a dry sparkling wine or a clean Sauvignon Blanc. If you would rather bring food, bring the crunchy element or the sweet one, because hosts tend to over-buy cheese and under-buy crackers, fruit, and honey.
Other Flavors To Add To Your Cheeseboard
Here are some quick homemade flavors you can add to your cheese board and to make figruing out which wine to drink with cheese even more delicious!
Taste It Where It Is Made
Figuring out what wine to drink with cheese gets easier when you have stood in the room where both are made. We plan food-focused trips through California wine country, and we include cheesemaker visits and tastings in those itineraries. See our California travel services, or tell us about your trip, and we will map it out.
California Wine Country Travel Guide
Thinking about tasting wine here in the Golden State? You’ll want to check out our California Road Trip Travel Guide for travel tips, itinerary ideas, and more California-inspired recipes.
Have Us Plan Your California Trip
Did you know we’re also a boutique travel agency specializing in California vacation planning? If you’re planning a trip to California, our California vacation planning services can help you create your perfect itinerary.
