Often paired with white wines, cheese can be more than just accommodating to red wine. With the right selections, such partnerships are deliciously memorable.

Cheese and wine, wine and cheese. No matter how you say it, together the two are heavenly. As with all food and wine combinations, however, pairing cheese with wine can be tricky when it comes to reds. Every bit as complex as wine, cheeses can amplify certain flavors characteristics in reds that contribute to the wine’s overall experience but that aren’t meant to dominate or be singled out.

Take, for example, the oak in which almost all red wines and a few white wines are aged. Many cheeses, particularly ultra-creamy ones, manage to home in on that oak no matter how subtle it might be and lift it to the fore (the reason for this has to do with the physiology of our tongues). Fruit and other flavors that make the wine delicious suddenly are suppressed under the oak’s dominance, creating a sensation akin to licking the side of a barrel. No doubt, that is not what the winemaker has in mind.

Tannins, which exist in wood (oak) as well as in grape skins, are responsible for this taste-altering experience. While essential to the structure of the wine, tannins create a drying sensation in the mouth that is desirable when it’s in balance but less pleasant when it is not. To successfully match cheese with highly tannic reds, as many are, it’s important to select cheeses that can hold their own in the presence of a big wine and at the same time, keep those tannins in check.

Tannins aren’t the only consideration. Other characteristics including fruit, spice and earthiness create complex flavor profiles that are unique to each red wine. For well-balanced pairings, the goal is to select cheeses that have full-bodied character but that won’t fight to the finish with the wine. What to do?

If you follow these few simple guidelines for pairing cheese with red wine, you’ll be well on your way to a lifetime of happy cheese and wine (or wine and cheese) experiences. Call it what you will. Just be sure to include the word delicious.

Guidelines for pairing cheese and red wine

• Semi-hard cheeses such as aged Cheddar, Manchego, Dry Monterey Jack, and most mountain-style cheeses, including Cantal and Appenzeller, are good matches for reds.
• Select cheeses that are full-bodied. Cheeses that are too mild, such as young gouda, Havarti, and mozzarella tend to get lost in the presence of most red wines.
• Stay away from strong, assertive cheeses such as super-salty blue-veined and washed-rind cheese varieties.  Both styles will strip the fruit from a wine to create a bitter or even flavorless beverage. Examples of washed-rind cheeses include Limburger, brick, Taleggio and Red Hawk, all of which are distinguished by their orangey-tan exterior (rind) and strong aroma.
• Due to the high cream content and relatively mild flavor of triple-cream cheeses such as St. André and Explorateur, such cheeses can be overwhelmed by the presence of a big red wine and worse, they tend to bring out the tannins (drying sensation) found in many red wines.

General tips for cheese and red wine pairing

• Taste the wine before you taste the cheese. This is the only way to get the true essence of the wine and its flavors. Once you introduce the flavors of the cheese, the character of the wine inevitably will change, sometimes for the better and unfortunately sometimes for the worse. This is true with all wines, not just red.
• Serve red wine no warmer than 65F and 68F. Likewise, cheese also should be at this temperature. Serving red wine warmer than this and cheese colder than this will negatively affect the pairing experience; some of the wine’s characteristics will be muddled if it is too warm, and the cheese’s subtleties muted if it is too cold.
• Avoid sweet accompaniments when pairing red wine and cheese. Jams, honey, syrups and chutneys will make a dry wine taste bitter. Instead, match the cheese with savory items such as toasted nuts, slices of baguette and olives.