Jason CooperHeadshot_CreditNatandCodyPhotography_Velvet48_190425_0193_web (1)
Cheese boards and lovely meat slices are ubiquitous: however that doesn’t mean that they are any less delicious. Many wines go well with some but some really excel as pairings. Having written a cheese-pairing guide, which helped me understand how delicious so many whites can be with cheeses I wanted to reach out for greater insight on this topic.
So I sat down with Jason Cooper, the owner the Velvet 48, a wine bar in Burlingame, just south of the City of San Francisco. All responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Liza B. Zimmerman (L.B.Z.): What wines pair best with meats and cheeses?
Jason Cooper (JC): The beauty of cheese and charcuterie is that they work with a lot of different wines. As a general rule of thumb, however, it’s probably better to avoid the extremes of high tannins, acid or sweetness but there are no absolute rules.
Some good middle of the road wines include: Pinot Noir, whether from its home in Burgundy, France; or from Sonoma’s Russian River Valley or the Willamette in Oregon; it tends to have a good balance of fruit, acid and tannin so it’s a naturally good pairing with charcuterie and a variety of other foods.
Chardonnay, which is also making its way from Burgundy, France is a great choice. However, it is best to stick to cooler climates—such as Burgundy—or Sonoma. Warmer places like Napa Valley run the risk of being overly fruity or oaky.
Bubbles: you can never wrong with bubbles. Try some Prosecco from Italy or Cava from Spain for some easy drinking alternatives to pricey Champagne.
Cheese plate assortment of french cheese served with honey, walnuts, bread and grapes on ceramic … [+] plate with glass of white wine over wood texture background Top view, space. (Photo by: Natasha Breen/REDA&CO/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
L.B.Z: Can you drill down to the specifics of types of cheeses and meat with what they work best with?
J.C.: Lambrusco, with its unique spritz and touch of sweetness would go great with a slightly spicy chorizo. Something mild, like a Prosciutto, goes great with a Prosecco or a lighter styled Pinot Noir: think Burgundy, not wine from the Santa Lucia Highlands.
COLORNO, ITALY – MARCH 26: Paper-thin slices of Culatello are served at Al Vèdel, the Osteria … [+] restaurant of the Podere Cadassa, a farm renowned for its cellar-aged Culatello salamis, on March 26, 2017 in Colorno, Italy. Culatello di Zibello is one of the most prized salumi in Italy and is dated back to the 15th century. It is produced in the flatlands located south of Parma, near the Po River, where the thick fog that rolls off the Po and the biting cold of the winter gives the aging meat its characteristic sweetness and fragrance. Culatello is made from the deboned hind leg of pigs that were born, raised and slaughtered exclusively in the Italian provinces of Emilia Romagna and Lombardy and is aged for at least 12 months in dark and musty, humid, room-temperature cellars to earn the DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) label from the European Union. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
Salumi needs a wine with some acidity: Sauvignon Blanc or maybe a northern Italian, young red like Barbera or Dolcetto. Pâté and rillette can go a little bigger. So they might work with Napa Chardonnay, Bordeaux or something from the Rhône
For cheese, as with other savory foods, the heavier the flavor of the cheese, the heavier the wine needs to be in order to keep up. Lighter cheeses like young cow or goat’s milk cheeses are better with lighter wines like Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc or Beaujolais.
Medium-bodied and buttery cheeses are good with Chardonnay and Merlot. Gorgonzola—and other blue cheeses—are a place to break out those Cabernets if you want, but on the complete opposite end of the spectrum dessert wine works just as well, if not better.
L.B.Z.: What are some of your current favorite pairings?
JC: I love rosé all year long and my typical “go to” is a rosé of Pinot Noir, especially with some milder, younger cheeses like Manchego or the soft-ripened Humboldt Fog, both of which are goat cheeses.
Another favorite pairing is to take any mild- to medium-flavored semi-firm cheese: such as young cheddar, Garrotxa from Spain, Tomme de Savoie from France—and drizzle a little local honey on it, then have it with a Sauternes: the dessert wine from the Bordeaux region of France. The nectar-like flavors of the Sauternes pair with the honey but the savory cheese prevents things from getting too sweet or cloying.
L.B.Z.: Do you generally pair cheeses and meats from one country with wines from the same one?
J.C.: Regional pairings definitely make sense: the wines and foods have usually evolved together, especially in parts of Europe. The wines and cuisines of Northern Italy are a great example of this.
However, you might not always have the exact meat or cheese that has its geographic match in a wine on the list, so you have to be versatile. Always be willing to experiment!
L.B.Z.: Do you have one amazing go-to wine that works beautifully with a wide range of meats and cheese?
10 December 2019, Berlin: Two women toast with champagne glasses at the “KaDeWe grand opening – The … [+] Journey Continues” at the KaDeWe. Photo: Gerald Matzka/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB (Photo by Gerald Matzka/picture alliance via Getty Images)
JC: Champagne: there’s something about the lightness of the body of this wine, coupled with the acidity and bubbles that does not overwhelm the lighter flavors but simultaneously cuts through the heartier flavors.