Cheese and wine: what to serve, tips and photos for you to celebrate in style

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Relaxed, informal and with a touch of sophistication. That’s what you should expect from a wine and cheese night.

This pair is perfect for entertaining friends on special occasions, but it also works very well on a romantic night or as an anniversary celebration, for example.

And for you to rock the night’s hostess, we’ve separated tips, ideas and incredible inspirations. Come and see.

the cheeses

Cheese is the highlight of the night and, for that reason, you should know how to choose the best options.

The first tip is to pay attention to your guests’ taste buds. If it’s a romantic evening or an intimate meeting, most likely you already know the taste of each one, but if it’s an event with more people, then ideally you have more cheese options to please everyone.

But before deciding between one and the other, it is worth understanding this milk by-product better. Yes, after all, cheese is a dairy product. But despite all of them having the same origin, the flavors and textures are quite different.

This happens for a few reasons, the first one being the type of milk. Basically, the cheeses we know are made from cow’s milk, goat’s milk or buffalo milk, with goat’s milk tending to produce cheeses with a more intense flavor, while those made from buffalo milk tend to be more intense. smooth.

Another reason behind the wide variety of cheeses on the market is the maturation time, in other words, how long the cheese takes to stay ready.

Softer and milder-tasting cheeses, such as ricotta and cottage cheese, are examples of low-ripening cheeses. Parmesan cheese, for example, is an example of cheese that has matured for a long time and, for this reason, it tends to be harder, yellowish and with an intense flavor.

Below is a list of the most popular cheeses and their classifications according to maturity:

Low ripening cheeses (fresh, soft and smooth)

Ricotta
fresh mines
cottage
buffalo mozzarella

Creamy cheeses with little ripeness

Cheeses with a mild flavor, medium maturation and firm texture

Emmental
Gouda
Rein
mines half cure

Intense flavor cheeses, long maturation and firm texture

Parmesan
Gruyere
Grana Padano
mines healed

Blue cheeses (crumbly texture and colonized by fungi)

Gorgonzola
Roquefort
Cabrales

The wine

There are basically two types of wine: red and white. Each one of them brings its derivations, such as dry, smooth, sparkling, among others.

Check out some of the most suitable labels for a night of cheese and wine:

Dry red wine

Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Malbec
Pinot Noir

smooth red wine

dry bank wine

Sauvignons Blancs
Rieslings
Chardonnay
Viognier
Semillon

How to combine and harmonize cheeses and wines

Did you write down the most suitable cheeses and wines for your night? So now it’s time to make the magic happen, that is, create the most harmonious combinations for tasting.

But do not worry. A simple way to facilitate this process is to understand that soft white cheeses are best paired with light, dry white wines.

On the other hand, cheeses with a firm, yellowish texture and a marked flavor are in harmony with dry and full-bodied red wines.

Check the table below to avoid making a mistake when making the harmonizations:

Combine dry white wine of the type Sauvignon or Chardonnay with soft and creamy cheeses, like the fresh, ricotta, cottage, brie and camembert mines.
Combine light dry red wine of the type Merlot or Pinot Noir with firm cheeses with a mild flavor, such as emmental, the gouda, the kingdom and the half cura mine.
Combine full-bodied dry red wine of the type Malbec, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon with firm cheeses with an intense flavor such as parmesan, grana, gruyère, pecorino and curado mines.
Combine mild wine like the wine of the Harbor with blue cheeses like gorgonzola, Roquefort and Cabrales.

what else to put on the menu

Even though it’s a wine and cheese night, you don’t necessarily have to serve only cheese and wine. There are other interesting options to complement the menu and make it even better.

To start, bet on breads, of the most varied types, such as baguettes, French, Italian, rye, among other options. Breads integrate perfectly with wines and cheeses, balancing flavors and textures.

But beware: avoid spicy and seasoned breads, such as those with garlic or pepper. These ingredients interfere with the taste and, consequently, with the tasting of cheeses and wines.

Pates, jams and honey can be offered to guests as a side dish. The ideal is to have around 3 to 4 different types of pâté on the table, but be careful with the flavor. The most suitable are those with a mild and light flavor, such as olives and fine herbs. No garlic pastes.

Jams and honey are great to accompany breads, but they also work very well with some types of cheese, such as brie, gorgonzola and parmesan.

Want more options? So write it down: dried fruits such as walnuts, chestnuts and apricots are great to accompany the cheese board. In the list, also add soft fresh fruits such as grapes, strawberries, mangoes and figs. Avoid acidic fruits, such as pineapple, to avoid a fight on the palate.

Meat-based cold cuts such as salami and parma ham can also be offered on the menu.

And, despite being a wine night, it is important to have other beverage options, especially if you have children in the place or any of the guests do not drink alcoholic beverages.

What about dessert? A good tip is to offer chocolate. Yea! Then everything is perfect. Offer, preferably, semisweet chocolate that can come either pure, in bars or bonbons, or even in an elaborate dessert, such as mousses and pies.

How to calculate the amount of cheese and wine per person

So as not to be missing or left over, the ideal is that you make an approximate calculation according to the number of people who will be invited.

By default, an average of 250 grams of cheese and about 120 grams of side dishes is recommended per person.

For wine, calculate one bottle for every two people. But remember that this is a standard measure, it is only a general guideline. Try to adapt these quantities according to the profile of your guests.

How to serve and decorate the wine and cheese night

The wine and cheese night is informal, cozy and relaxed, but it also brings an aura of elegance and glamour. And how to get these sensations? The first tip is to bet on special lighting, it can be candlelight or indirect lamps.

The wine and cheese night also combines with more rustic elements, so don’t miss out on a nice wooden board to serve the side dishes. Also take care in choosing the glasses to serve the wine.

And because it’s a relaxed event, there’s no need to worry about a table setting (unless you want to). Instead, set up a buffet-style table where each guest is free to help themselves.

Group cheeses with wines that harmonize with each other. To make the guests’ experience even better, make small signs or write on a blackboard the names of the cheeses and wines being served and show how to harmonize them with each other.

Here are 30 decorating ideas for a wine and cheese night: