Cheese & Wine
Cheese and wine - a classic culinary delight! Contrary to popular belief, it is more often the white wines than the red wines that really complete the enjoyment. In any case, you are guaranteed to find numerous suitable companions to all cheese variations among the many excellent German wines.
Facts
-
20.68kg
is the per capita consumption of cheese in Germany
-
4
most popular varieties: Gouda, Emmental, Camembert and cream cheese
-
2%
market share accounted for by purely plant-based cheese
A few basic considerations should be made when choosing wine to accompany cheese: For example, cheese and wine from the same region often go well together due to the same climatic and geographical conditions. When it comes to the interplay of flavours, cheese and wine should be roughly equally strong or mild. The more mature the cheese is, the richer and fuller-flavoured the wine is recommended. Cheese with a delicate flavour, on the other hand, goes well with a
subtle, delicate wine.
Sour, salty or very flavourful cheeses require a sweet wine as a counterbalance, i.e. noble wines such as Trockenbeerenauslese or ice wines. Wines emphasising acidity, on the other hand, are well suited to creamy cheeses, while they often make firmer cheeses appear bitter. The harder the cheese, the more tannins the wine can tolerate.
Which wine goes best with which type of cheese?
Slightly spicy white wines with a subtle acidity, such as a semi-dry Riesling, harmonise well with mildly spicy soft cheese with white mould, such as Brie or Camembert. Red wines with less tannin, such as a Pinot Noir, Black Riesling or Trollinger, are also suitable, as is a Burgundy sparkling wine.
A Gewürztraminer is an ideal partner for a red mould wine. A fresh Pinot Gris or fruity to full-bodied red wines such as a Pinot Noir can also be served with it. The very spicy cheese can also be softened with sweeter bouquet wines such as a muscatel.
Blue mould cheese contains a strong acidity because fat is broken down into glycerine, among other things. As the sweetness cancels each other out in terms of flavour, a balance must be achieved between cheese and wine. The acidity-sweetness interplay of high-quality sweet to noble Rieslings such as Spätlesen, Auslesen or ice wines offers an interesting flavour experience.
A young, fruity, berry Pinot Noir pairs well with mild sliced cheeses such as young Gouda, Edam cheese or buttered cheese, as does a dry Silvaner with a delicate herbaceous flavour or a creamy Pinot Gris.
More crispy cheeses such as medium-aged Gouda, young mountain cheese, Appenzeller or Gruyère go very well with a fruity, dry red wine such as Trollinger, Merlot or Dornfelder. As a white wine, a fine tart Riesling or a traditional Gutedel (Chasselas) is recommended.
Dry but fruity white wines such as a very young Pinot Blanc or lighter red wines with a low alcohol content, such as a Trollinger, are suitable for a young, mild hard cheese, Allgäuer Emmentaler or Bergkäse. A full-bodied Pinot Gris or Chardonnay is ideal with a more mature hard cheese, which is stronger and spicier, or a strong, intense red wine.
Mild-flavoured goat and sheep cheeses are ideal with young, light white wines such as fruity Silvaner or Pinot Blanc, but a sparkling, fresh rosé can also be used here. Not too heavy noble wines also harmonise here.
Milk-accentuated fresh wines harmonise best with low-acid, fruit-accentuated white wines with a subtle residue, such as a sweet to sweet Müller-Thurgau or a light Silvaner.
Which wine goes well with tart, salty or very flavourful cheese?
Sweet wines, Trockenbeerenauslese or ice wines provide a nice counterbalance to strong and flavoursome cheeses.
Varietals
More recipe ideas
the "Frankfurt Green Sauce" Quiche with herbs
the "Frankfurt Green Sauce"
- 200 Gramm Mehl
- 100 Gramm Butter
- je 1 Bund Kräuter für Frankfurter Grüne Sauce (Petersilie, Kresse, Kerbel, Borretsch, Sauerampfer, Schnittlauch, Pimpernelle)
- 100 - 125 Gramm Schwarzwälder Schinken
- 7 ganze Eier
- 125 ml Sahne
- 100 Gramm Frischkäse
- 1 EL Zitronensaft
- nach Geschmack Salz & Pfeffer
Knead the flour and butter with 4 tbsp water and a teaspoon of salt to form a smooth dough. Line a mould with it and leave to cool for 30 minutes.</p
Hard boil 4 eggs. Wash, drain and finely chop the herbs from the Frankfurt green sauce. Cut the ham into wafer-thin slices and spread on the pastry base. Chop the hard-boiled eggs into small
and spread over the top. Mix the 3 eggs, cream and fresh cheese and season with 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt and pepper, then fold in the herbs. Spread the mixture over the pastry base.
Bake at 180 °C (gas mark 4) on the middle shelf of the oven for about 30 minutes.
- Riesling (trocken)
with shrimps Pumpkin soup
with shrimps
- 1 kleiner Hokkaido-Kürbis
- 1 Zwiebel
- 5 cm Ingwer
- 2 EL Butter
- 750 ml Gemüsebrühe
- 300 ml Kokosmilch
- 12 mittelgroße Shrimps
- 2 EL Olivenöl
- Eine Prise Salz & Pfeffer
Peel and dice the pumpkin, onion and ginger and sauté in the butter.
Deglaze with the vegetable stock and sauté for about 15 to 20 minutes until soft.
Sauté the shrimps in a little olive oil and leave to cook over a low heat for a few minutes. Place on wooden skewers and keep warm in aluminium foil.
When the vegetables have been steamed until soft, blend finely with a hand blender. Stir in the coconut milk and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve the soup in large cups and garnish with the shrimp skewers.
Freshly baked white bread goes well with this.
- Muskateller (halbtrocken & feinherb)
- Federweißer (brut nature)
with semi-dry wines Flädlesuppe
with semi-dry wines
- 1 Bund Schnittlauch
- 1 Liter Fleischbrühe
- 150 Gramm Weizenmehl
- 300 ml Milch
- nach Belieben Speckschwarte zum ausreiben der Pflanne
- Etwas Salz
Make a smooth, not too thick batter from the flour, milk, eggs and a pinch of salt. Heat a heavy frying pan on a high heat, rub with bacon fat, pour in a small dollop of batter, allow to spread and fry thin pancakes (flädle).
<p
Leave the pancakes to cool, halve and cut into thin strips.
Place in clear, very hot meat stock and serve immediately.
<p- Trollinger (halbtrocken & feinherb)
with wild duck breast, porcini mushrooms and glazed chestnuts Herb salad
with wild duck breast, porcini mushrooms and glazed chestnuts
- 150 Gramm Wildkräuter
- 4 EL Olivenöl
- 2 EL Balsamessig
- 8 Stück Wildentenbrüste (a 100g)
- 2 EL Sonnenblumenöl
- 4 EL Honig
- 1 EL Thymian
- 200 Gramm Steinpilze
- 20 gekochte Maronen
- 100 ml Apfelsaft
- 2 El Zucker
- nach Belieben Salz & Pfeffer
Clean, wash and pat dry the wild herbs. Marinate with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.
Preheat the oven to 220°C top and bottom heat. Season the wild duck breasts with salt and pepper, sear on the meat side in a pan with sunflower oil and cook in the preheated oven for about 8 minutes on the skin side. Remove the duck breast, brush the skin side with honey and thyme and roast for another 2 minutes on a high heat until crispy.
Clean the porcini mushrooms and cut into slices. Fry in a pan in oil on both sides, remove and keep warm. Caramelise the sugar in the pan, deglaze with the apple juice and simmer until the caramel has dissolved. Add the chestnuts and add a little more apple juice if necessary.
- Pinot Blanc (trocken)
- Gutedel (trocken)
