Throw a wine-and-cheese tasting that’s casual, fun, I and fuss-free. Invite a group of friends over and host with ease. Here’s how to do it.
1 invite your guests
Six to 10 people is the ideal group for a tasting party: big enough to spark interesting conversation, but still small enough for everyone to sit around the table.
2 go shopping
Buy three or four different wines and cheeses (see pairing suggestions below). You’ll need 12 to 20 ounces of each cheese and two or three bottles of each wine. Buy cheeses no more than a day in advance so they’ll be fresh and flavorful.
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Chill sparkling wines overnight. Chill white wines two to three hours before the party (too cold kills the flavor), red wines about 30 minutes prior. “Red wines taste best at the temperature of a wine cellar–about 55 degrees, not room temperature,” says Dina Cheney, author of Tasting Club. Take cheese out of fridge one hour before the party.
3 arrange the pairings
* On a side table or counter, pair cheeses and wines in order from mildest to strongest, as shown, below left.
* Group similar cheeses on one plate (soft cheeses, goat cheeses, etc.). “Don’t crowd all the cheese together,” warns Marguerite Thomas, a writer and editor for wine-reviewonline.com, “or the flavors will get murky.”
* On folded index cards, list each cheese and its accompanying wine.
* On the dining table, put out palate cleansers (crackers, bread, water) for guests to nibble on or drink between selections, a bucket or bowl to dump extra wine into (dump at least some–the more you drink, the less you taste), and notepaper and pens so guests can jot down their thoughts and impressions.
how to taste wine
Look at it. Pour two ounces of wine into your glass. Hold glass up against a white napkin to check out its color. Often, the richness of a wine’s color will coincide with the depth of its flavor (so a full-flavored cabernet could be a deeper red than a mellower pinot noir).
Swirl it. Put glass onto a table and swirl it, firmly holding the stem, to help release the wine’s aroma. Stick your nose in the glass and smell–a lot of a wine’s flavor is in its scent.
Taste it. Take a sip and swish it around your mouth, taking in a little air (oxygen helps to release the flavors). Is the wine sweet or dry? Buttery or crisp? If it’s a red, are there tannins? (Tannins give your mouth that dried-out feel.)
Swallow it. Pay attention to the wine’s finish. Is the taste in your mouth different from when you took your first sip? And, hey, do you like this wine?
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you might taste…
• rosemary
• vanilla
• tobacco
• raspberry
• coffee
how to taste cheese
Look at it. Is the cheese smooth? Waxy? Golden? Oily? Don’t be shy–break off a small piece and feel it.
Smell it. Do you smell any herbs or flowers? Is it especially stinky?
Taste it. Take a small bite. What flavors do you taste? (Nuts? Pepper? Any of the herbs you smelled?) How’s the texture? Creamy? Rubbery? Hard?
Swallow it. Do any flavors linger in your mouth? And what’s your overall impression? Do you like it?
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you might taste…
• salt
• lemon
• sage
• hazelnut
• honey
TIP
Round cheeses are best cut in wedges.
Hard cheeses are good crumbled or broken off into chunks.
Slice block cheeses into thin rectangles.
Party on!
Go to redbookmag.com/wineandcheese for shopping recommendations, menu ideas, wine and cheese storing tips, and much more!
pairing suggestions
Sparkling wines go with mild, buttery triple-cream cheeses (St. Andre, Explorateur).
Simple, young wines (sauvignon blanc, Sancerre) go with soft, young cheeses (goat cheese).
Chardonnays and full cabernets go well with semi-soft cheeses (Brie, Camembert).
Medium-bodied reds (pinot noir, CГґtes du RhГґne) go with hard, stronger-flavored cheeses (Parmesan, GruyГЁre, aged cheddar).
Sweet/dessert wines go with pungent blue cheeses. It may sound odd, but try it!
Source: Redbook, Oct2006