Celebrate Valentine’s Day with a romantic wine and cheese pairing. This guide will give you everything you need to know for the perfect night!
Wine and cheese make an ideal gift for your sweetheart on Valentine’s Day, and there are many wine and cheese themed events as well.
Wine and cheese pairings are always a popular Valentine’s Day gift. But putting together the proper combination on your own can be daunting, so it’s fortunate that there are many options available for gift sets that do the work of choosing the right wines and cheeses for you. There are also plenty of Valentine’s Day events centered around wine and cheese.
Of all the complimentary foods that can be paired with wine, cheese and wine pairings are tasty and the combinations of the two are seemingly endless with all of the varieties of wines and cheeses which taste so good together.
One may first pick a favorite wine and then discover the cheese which pairs nicely with the wine, or if one has a favorite type of cheese, that can be the basis for which wine to pick so they may be consumed together.
In terms of classifying cheeses, there are hard cheeses, semi-hard cheeses, semi-soft cheeses, and soft cheeses. Under each of these categories lie all of the different cheese flavors from different regions and countries. Because each cheese and wine are so unique, the best taste combinations are made by very specific pairings.
One of my favorite cheeses is Camembert cheese which a soft cheese from France. Camembert pairs excellently with a Cabernet. Another one of my favorite soft cheeses is Brie cheese, another delicious cheese from France. Brie cheese pairs nicely with some of my favorite wines as well, including Merlot and Champagne. Brie cheese is quite soft, and when serving and eating brie while tasting wine, I would suggest a baked brie, which can be served warm and is excellent when eaten atop crackers or small toasts. Baked Brie with crackers and served with Merlot makes a great appetizer or starter for a social gathering or party.
No Italian feast or meal is complete without fresh mozzarella cheese. Mozzarella cheese is a delicious soft cheese which can be served with fresh basil and a red wine vinaigrette on small toasts, or it can be served with a slice of tomato and fresh basil with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil over the top. Mozzarella pairs well with white wines and light red wines as well.
To follow an Italian meal, another soft Italian cheese which can be served for desert is Mascarpone cheese. For a cheese dessert, Mascarpone cheese is a decadent choice. Mascarpone cheese can be eaten alone with black berries atop the cheese and served in a parfait glass, or filled into a tart shell and topped with strawberries. Because mascarpone cheese is used for desserts, pair a mascarpone cheese with a sweet desert wine. A great desert wine which pairs deliciously with Mascarpone cheese is Muscat wine. Orange Muscat is a sweet desert wine which could be served with Mascarpone cheese and orange layer cake.
