For those of us busy planning to host or attend upcoming holiday gatherings this season, check out Super Cellars in Ridgewood. General manager Joe Ringwood is a certified sommelier with an advanced certification with WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust), and he’s the “go-to” guy for selecting the perfect wines. Joe will provide you with some excellent and practical advice about pairing wine with food.
Joe’s specialty is helping his customers with great pairing options but firmly believes that if your palate isn’t fond of that particular wine, food, or cheese, it won’t be a great experience for you. “For most, cheese pairs better with white wines than red wines. Soft cheeses go well with white wine, and harder cheeses are a better choice to handle the more robust flavor of red wines,” says Joe. “But the best pairing is drinking the wine you like with the cheese you like!”
Following some basic pairing rules can help you decide what to serve at your next event.
“The objective of pairing wine and food/cheese is to ‘do no harm,’” he says. “For example, drinking high-alcohol, high-tannin wines with spicy, hot foods will accentuate the heat of the spice and may make you a bit uncomfortable. Avoid drinking dry wines with mold cheeses (blue cheese) because the veins of the mold will strip the wines of their fruitiness. In both cases, an off-dry to sweet wine is the best choice.”
Personal preferences also play a role in your wine-pairing menu. “You can decide whether you want to complement or contrast the wines with the food,” says Joe. “A good example is a dish with a cream sauce. Complimentary pairings would be something like a California chardonnay that is rich and creamy. The contrasting choice could be a chablis with high acidity that’ll cut through the cream sauce and refresh your palate.”
Foods with high acid content—think tomato sauces—need high-acid wines. “Wines such as barbera or chianti are excellent choices,” says Joe.
Another important consideration is to match weight to weight. A heavy food dish requires a heavier wine and a lighter dish requires a lighter wine. “You don’t want the food or the wine to overpower the other. This is where the old adage white wine with fish and red wine with meat comes from,” Joe advises.
“When pairing wines with cheese, the wine is the more important consideration. Very few wines will affect the taste of the cheese, but the cheese will most likely affect the taste of the wine. Considerations when pairing includes texture, intensity, and acidity. Decide if you want to complement or contrast in texture, intensity, and acidity. Do you want to serve creamy cheeses with creamy wines or creamy cheeses with palate-cleansing, sparkling wine? Wines and cheeses both have acidity, so try pairing a cheese higher-acid cheese with a higher-acid wine. Goat cheese is high in acid and pairs great with a sauvignon blanc.”
Here are a few popular kinds of cheese and wine suggestions for pairing.
Asiago – Light bodied whites like pinot grigio, friulano or etna bianco. If the cheese has a little age, think about a chianti, dolcetto, or barbera.
Brie – White wines are best; chardonnay, pinot gris, or sparkling wine. Recommended reds (if you must) would include medium-bodied, moderate tannin reds like Merlot or Syrah.
Brillat-Savarin – High acid whites like sparkling wine, chablis, chenin blanc, sauvignon blanc
Camembert – Similar to brie choices. A buttery California chardonnay is a great pairing!
Cheddar – Look for red wines with some intensity. Good pairings include zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, Bordeaux, or malbec.
Manchego – Bigger reds work here. Try matching region to region with a nice Spanish Rioja, Ribera del Duero, or Jumilla.
Parmigiano-Reggiano – This hard cheese holds up great to bold, red wines, Nebbiolo-based reds, or cabernet sauvignon-based reds. If white is your preference, bubbles are a perfect match! Try an Italian Franciacorta.
If you need to stock your cabinet for an upcoming holiday event, select lighter-bodied, lower-tannin reds that are versatile enough to pair with various foods. Top choices include pinot noir, zinfandel, cru Beaujolais, Côte du Rhône, or a sparkling brut rose. Fresh, bright whites are crowd pleasers, so try dry Riesling, dry Chenin blanc, white Burgundy, or sauvignon blanc. Sparkling wines are incredibly versatile, with some fantastic ones at modest prices.
“Don’t fret too much over it. Just be careful that your pairing doesn’t clash,” Joe advises. “It’s all about the celebration--let’s not take the perfect pairing too seriously!”