It’s that time of year when we put together a mega cheeseboard and pick at it ALL DAY! For several days. What joy! With help from the brilliant folks at Paxton & Whitfield cheesemongers, I've chosen some classic wine and cheese combinations to help you navigate the cheeseboard.
All cheeses below can be found at PaxtonandWhitfield.co.uk
Goats Cheese + Sauvignon Blanc
The Cheese: Selles Sur Cher
A French goats' cheese from the Loire Valley, France, Selles sur Cher is a classic French goats’ milk cheese that’s finely textured, succulent and velvety. It has an aroma of walnuts and the flavour is also nutty but with a hint of lemon and salt followed by a mellow sweetness. The Cher river runs parallel to the Loire, home of world renowned Sauvignon Blanc that is fresh, bright and grassy. These wines match perfectly the bright lemony flavours of this cheese.
The Wine: Stone & Bones Sauvignon Blanc 2020, Portugal
More elegant than Marlborough, More fruity than a Sancerre, this zesty, herbaceous Sauvignon Blanc from Portugal is a deliciously different, mid-way style that will sing with this goats’ cheese.
Find it for £10.99 mix 6 price at Laithwaites.
Premium Cheddar + Pinot Noir
The Cheese: Westcombe Reserve
Cheddar is undoubtedly the UK’s most popular cheese, outselling British and Continental counterparts, yet so often it is thought of as a cooking or an everyday cheese. Over the last few years, the team at the award-winning Westcombe Dairy, Somerset, have made big decisions to improve the quality of their cheese. Lots of these decisions have been in the field, rather than the dairy, one of them being to farm in a more sustainable, regenerative way. These decisions have resulted in some of their best ever batches of cheeses. The team at Paxtons has selected a single day’s production of cheese, from the 12th of March 2020, to age further and create a special profile especially for its customers this Christmas. With a full body and notes of warm toasted nuts, this promises to be a very special batch of cheese indeed.
The Wine: Gabel Pinot Noir Kalkstein 2018
German Pinot Noir has a gloriously silky, lactic feel to it making it exceptionally elegant, yet easy drinking. Think ripe red berries with a touch of spice and a hint of smoke.
Find it for £13.99 mix case price at Laithwaites
Alpine Cheese + Chardonnay
Cheese 1: Beaufort
Beaufort is a huge Alpine cheese weighing between 40-60kg that is named after the Beaufort Valley in France where it was first produced, where mountains reach altitudes of 3000 metres.
It’s pale yellow, with a smooth and creamy texture and lacks holes like other Gruyère-style cheeses. It also has a very distinct, earthy aroma, reminiscent of the pastures on which the Tarentaise and Abondance cows graze to provide the milk used for the cheese. This is the cheese also commonly used to make cheese fondue because it melts easily and it’s a winner with bold, white wine like Chardonnay.
Cheese 2: Comté Vieux
A limited edition Comté Vieux cheese that’s extra mature, aged for approximately 29 months in French caves . Made with the raw milk from Montbeliarde and French Simmental cows, the flavour is nutty, full and rich, with fruity tones and more of the crunchy Tyrosine crystals formed during the aging of the cheese.
The Wine: Redhead’s Harmonie Fox Coonawarra Chardonnay 2021
Coonawarra has traditionally been famous for big, bold reds made with Cabernet Sauvignon so a Chardonnay is a step away from the norm. This is an ideal style of white for a flavoursome hard, nutty cheese as it has lots of ripe peach and apricot fruit as well as a crisp acidity and a touch of spicy oak.
Find it for £11.69 mixed case price at Laithwaites
Blue Cheese + Sweet White Wine
Cheese 1: Cashel Blue, Irish Farmhouse Blue Cheese
Cashel Blue is the original Irish blue cheese! Firm, salty and savoury blue cheese that starts as a firm textured, crumbly consistency but with ripening it takes on a soft, creamy, almost spreadable texture. As it matures, the flavour also changes, growing stronger and becoming spicier. The rind is very distinctive with a covering of grey and pink moulds.
Cheese 2: Blue Cloud
Inspired by soft, sweet Gorgonzola style blues, Blue Cloud is made on the beautiful Balcombe Estate in Sussex using milk from a single herd of Norwegian Red Holstein cows. The cheese is soft and creamy, with a heady, doughy scent reminiscent of freshly baked bread.
The Wine: Seifried, Nelson ‘Sweet Agnes’ Late Harvest Riesling 2019
A late harvest Riesling from Nelson, just next door to Marlborough, New Zealand,. Made with raisined grapes, it’s a lusciously sweet wine with tonnes of refreshing acidity. Think apricot, marmalade, lemon and tropical fruit. It’s not Port you need; it’s sweet white wine!
Find it for £14.99 per half bottle and mixed case price at Laithwaites
Want to know how to put together a cheese platter? Check out this article.