Wine and cheese go well together.  You can’t really go wrong when selecting wine and cheese for your pairings.  If it tastes good, then it is the right pairing.  Everyone’s palette and sense of flavor is different so explore and have an adventure.  Here are some suggestions to begin:

• Purchase wedge cheese for the best presentation
• Cheeses should be at room temperature for tasting
• White wines should be chilled: reds at room temperature
• Start with basic cheeses and wines first then move on to more adventurous choices and combinations
• Uncork your red wines and let sit for at least 20 minutes
• Use standard wine glasses
• Pour the wine into your glass, no more than an ounce and a time
• Take a bit of cheese, and just about the time you have finished it, taste your wine and swish it around in your mouth
• Describe what you are tasting, feeling, etc.
• In between your tastings, take a bit of freshly, baked sourdough or grain bread to clean the palette

Even though cheese and wine pairings come down to personal choice, there are some basic truths that have been discovered by both wine and cheese enthusiasts:

• White wines pair best with soft or stronger cheeses
• Red wines pair best with hard cheeses and mild flavors
• Fruity, Sweet, and dessert wines pair with a wide range of cheeses and flavors
• Sweeter wines fair well with pungent cheeses
• Whites usually outperform reds because most cheeses leave a layer of fat on your palette, which interferes with the red wine flavor
• Sweeter wines seem to break through the cheese fat the best

Tell us how your pairings went.  What are your favorite combinations?