Best California Wine and Cheese Pairing

Vickie
Date Posted: July 19, 2023
Post Updated: December 1, 2023

Best California Wine and Cheese Pairing

Have a fun wine and cheese pairing with your family and friends! National Wine and Cheese day is just around the corner, and there’s no better way to celebrate than by purchasing some wine from the California Wine Club and picking up some delicious California Cheese at your favorite cheese shop!

The California Wine Club offers a wide variety of California-grown wines, from Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay to Zinfandel and Merlot. And with more than 400 varieties of cheese produced in California, you’re sure to find the perfect pairing for your wine.

So, get ready to celebrate National Wine and Cheese Day in style on July 25th!

To find your favorite California wines, check out The California Wine Club. The California Wine Club is the leading provider of fine artisan wines from California. They have been serving wine lovers for more than 30 years! They offer memberships for both red and white wines, as well as for a variety of specialty wines. You will not be disappointed.The wines are incredibly delicious, and you will get to try new varieties that you wouldn’t have otherwise had access to from small family-owned wineries. The California Wine Club is the perfect way to explore the incredible world of California wine, and I would highly recommend its membership to anyone who loves great wine. Making your wine-drinking experience even more enjoyable!

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Here are some of the California Wine Club specials:

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The California Wine Club is great for gifts also! Check out our complete article-Here

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NOW … Let’s Look at the California Wine and Cheese Pairings

California is known for not only its fine California Wine but also delicious California cheeses. It is so fun to have cheese and wine pairings with your friends and family. Some of the best wine and cheese pairings are impromptu gatherings on the back patio.

There is nothing like wine & cheese on a summer afternoon, so have some fun with your California Wine and Cheese Pairing. And you can step it up a notch by showcasing it with a nice wine charcuterie board. What great fun it is to try different combinations and share your own favorites with your friends. Wine and cheese pairing at home is easy to do.

Often asked is – What is the best cheese for wine? Or the other way around for those that already have their favorite California cheese in hand – What is the best wine for cheese? and What wine goes with cheese? (hint … all of them!)

What is the best wine to pair with cheese? The answer to the best wine with cheese is to remember, just like any wine and food pairing, the most important thing is that you LIKE it. Yes, there are a number of factors to work with to help find the perfect combination, including texture, acidity, fat, and tannin.

How to Pair Cheese and Wine

To help you figure out what good cheese with wine is, below we compiled some of the best cheese so you can find your favorite cheese that goes with wine.

Here is some information to hopefully guide you for your California wine and cheese pairing:

FRESH CHEESE:

Soft and rindless, these can be made with cow, goat, or sheep milk. They’re not aged and have a mild, slightly tangy flavor. While a log of white goat cheese is what pops into mind when first thinking of examples, this category includes Mozzarella, Chevre (goat) cheese, Feta, and Ricotta, just to name a few. Goat cheese wine pairing is quite popular and can be delicious!

THE WINE PAIRING – Goat cheese pairing is very popular and a good cheese with Sauvignon Blanc. Also, try a Riesling cheese pairing. As for reds, you would want to try with your lighter unoaked reds such as Cabernet Franc or this would be one of the best cheese for Pinot Noir or good for a dry rose cheese pairing.

BLOOMY CHEESE: These are named for the bloom of white mold on the outside. They tend to be the richest and creamiest type of cheese, with a soft, spreadable texture. The rind is edible, and it has a stronger, funkier flavor than the interior. These would be your Brie Cheese and Camembert. Brie wine pairing can be fun by adding chutney to your brie for your brie cheese wine pairing.

THE WINE PAIRING – a dryer wine would be good, giving you such options as a brut Sparkling California wine, unoaked Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, or example. As for reds, dry and light-bodied, a little on the fruiter side are good, including Pinot Noir, a lighter Syrah, or Cabernet Franc.

SEMI-SOFT CHEESE: These are not spreadable, and they do not break in shards like a hard cheese. They usually are creamy and fairly mild in flavor. Many are excellent to melt and perfect to slice. Some cheeses like Gouda are semi-soft in younger styles, while when aged, their texture turns hard. Also includes Havarti, Gruyere, Provolone. Gouda wine pairing is best with low-tannin wines.

THE WINE PAIRING – These can stand up to a more robust California wine, including Chardonnay or Viognier. For reds, try your Barbara or Zinfandel.

HARD CHEESE: The product of aging, these are quite firm and break into crumbles or shards. They tend to have nutty and complex savory notes. Some are fairly pungent and salty. These are your Cheddar or Parmesan.

THE WINE PAIRING – A sparkling wine/Champagne, or any of your more robust reds including Sangiovese, Barbera, and Zinfandel.

BLUE CHEESE: This cheese seems to be one that people either love or hate! It has veins of blue mold running through it and tends to have strong, sharp flavors. They can be soft and creamy, or semi-soft and crumbly.

BLUE CHEESE WINE PAIRING – This cheese can be great with a sweet California wine such as your sweeter Rieslings, a late harvest wine, a dessert wine, or a delicious port.

Best cheese with white wine for your white wine cheese pairing

Pino Grigio cheese pairing

– Gruyere and creamier cheeses, Feta, Gouda and Swiss

Riesling cheese pairing – Mozzarella, Chevre (goat) cheese, Feta, Parmesan, Swiss and Gouda

Sauvignon Blanc cheese pairing – Mozzarella, Chevre (goat) cheese, Feta, Havarti, Parmesan, Swiss, and Asiago

Chardonnay Cheese pairing – the best cheese with Chardonnay can be Brie Cheese and Camembert, Havarti, Gruyere, Provolone, Asiago and even Gouda

Champagne cheese pairing – Brie is best with brut champagne. Also good would be an aged Cheddar or Parmesan

Moscato cheese pairing – Good strong cheeses such as blue cheese will bring out the flavors of the Muscat Wine

Best Cheese with Red Wine for Your Red Wine Cheese Pairing

Red wine cheese, as you can see above, you have quite a variety to choose from. Red wine and cheese pairings are delicious and fun to do, and especially good when adding some nuts, fruits, and even meats to the mix. What is a good cheese with red wine depends upon what type of red wine you are drinking. Here we have some red wine and cheese pairings.

Dry rose cheese pairing – Ok it’s not really a red, nor white wine. But cheese with Rose can be good also. – Brie Cheese, Havarti, Parmesan, and Camembert would all work well.

Merlot cheese pairing – Good cheese with merlot are Asiago, Cheddar, Colby, Swiss, Parmesan, Havarti. Certain Merlots can stand up to blue cheese also.

Zinfandel cheese pairing – Havarti, Gruyere, Provolone. Gouda Cheddar, Parmesan

Syrah cheese pairing – Brie Cheese, Asiago, Blue Cheese, Cheddar and Camembert

Cabernet Sauvignon cheese pairing – The best cheese with Cabernet (my opinion) is Blue Cheese, but then again I really like Blue Cheese. The best cheese to pair with cabernet also can be Asiago and Havarti. Another good cheese with Cabernet Sauvignon is Colby.

Pinot Noir cheese pairing – I think the best cheese with Pinot Noir is Asiago. Another cheese with Pinot Noir pairing would be Brie Cheese, Fontina, Blue, Feta, and Camembert

Malbec cheese pairing – Good cheese pairing with Malbec would be Asiago, Blue, Cheddar and Gouda

Port cheese pairing – Blue cheese, aged Cheddar and Gorgonzola

As you can see, there is quite a variety of cheeses that will pair well with your red wine.

The takeaway to all of this for your California wine and cheese

pairing

Important points to remember when you pair wine and cheese – if you don’t like it on its own, you probably won’t like it paired with something. If you do not like red wine, pairing it with something won’t make you like it. Remember these are all GUIDELINES. Try different combinations to discover your favorite California wine.

Some wineries produce totally different flavors from the same grape, so consider that also. Some Zinfandels are young and fruity, others strong and peppery. Another pointer, throw in some fruit and nuts with your cheese to make it a fruit and cheese pairing. And play around with adding some meats – salami and prosciutto are good to start with for meat and cheese pairings. For more on food and wine pairing, click here.

What is really popular now is wine and charcuterie. The best wine for charcuterie would be the same as above. Enjoy your wine and charcuterie board with your friends.