If you want to learn how to pair wine and cheese correctly, you’re in the right place. We’re going to give you the key guidelines to help you make the right decisions when combining your wines with the cheeses you want to serve.
How to Pair Wine and Cheese Correctly
Pairing wine and cheese is no simple task. With such a wide variety of cheeses—each with different ingredients and flavors—you need to be precise to get it right. That said, it’s far from impossible. In fact, pairing wine and cheese is a classic tradition that has stood the test of time. A quick look through history and literature will reveal references to this pairing from ancient times to today. And it’s no surprise—both wine and cheese are natural, artisanal products that offer a broad and diverse range of flavors.
Wine, with its acidity and structure, balances the creaminess and flavor of cheese—regardless of the type—while the different cheese varieties enhance the nuances of the wine.
But the wine-cheese relationship goes even further. In fact, it works in three main ways:
- Wine cuts through the fatty textures left in the mouth after eating cheese—it cleanses the palate.
- Wine serves as an aromatic complement to cheese, thanks to its fruity, floral, or earthy notes. These characteristics help balance the intensity of the cheese.
- It promotes sweet and salty contrasts, which greatly enhance today’s gastronomic experiences.
A Wine for Every Type of Cheese
In addition to everything we’ve mentioned so far, it’s important to note that certain wines are better suited to specific types of cheese. The ideal pairings include:
Blue cheese and sweet wine.
Cheeses like Roquefort or Cabrales are known for their strong, intense flavors. They need wines that contrast with and soften their boldness—something sweet wines do very well. In our case, we recommend our DEMUERTE ROSÉ, which offers a delightful floral and herbal aroma with rich notes of strawberry and cherry. It’s a fruity, fresh, well-rounded wine with good acidity and a long, flavorful finish—qualities that perfectly enhance blue cheeses.
Creamy, fresh cheeses and white wines.
This category includes cheeses like Brie or Camembert, though it also applies to any cheese with a smooth texture and mild flavor. These characteristics pair wonderfully with light white wines, such as our DEMUERTE WHITE. This is a modern wine with aromas of white fruits and flowers, hints of syrupy peach, apricot, citrus fruits, and tropical notes. It has fresh acidity, a light yet creamy flavor, and a long finish with notes of white fruit and herbs—making it an ideal match for all types of fresh cheese.
Aged cheeses with red wines.
This applies to Manchego or Italian Parmesan, both of which are flavorful and have a firm texture. To successfully pair these, you need red wines with structure and body. Wines like our DEMUERTE CLASSIC, a deep red wine with clear notes of black and red fruits, and a complex background of oak, pastry, balsamic, spices, and vanilla. It’s smooth and creamy on the palate, pairing perfectly with these cheeses.
Sheep’s milk cheese with aged red wines.
Sheep’s milk cheeses have a distinctive flavor, seen in examples like Idiazábal, which offers a very specific taste. In this case, look for aged and full-bodied red wines, as they best highlight the cheese’s subtleties. We recommend DEMUERTE DELUXE and DEMUERTE BLACK, as these wines spend more time aging in barrels and have a structure that pairs beautifully with this type of cheese.
DEMUERTE: Wines for the Perfect Pairing
The DEMUERTE collection includes a wide range of wines ideal for achieving the perfect pairing—especially with cheese. The quality of the grapes, their intense flavors and aromas, and their mouthfeel make DEMUERTE wines the perfect companions for cheese.
We’ve shared some of our top pairings in this article, but we know this list doesn’t cover every cheese. That’s why we invite you to experiment and share your own wine and cheese pairing suggestions with DEMUERTE wines. We’d love to hear from you.
