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
with pears, beans, parsley root and black walnuts Venison medallions
with pears, beans, parsley root and black walnuts
- 12 Stück Rehmedaillions (a 80g)
- 30 Gramm gebratene Speckstreifen
- 200 ml Bechamelsauce
- 3 EL Sonnenblumenöl
- 8 kleine Petersilienwurzeln mit Grün (alternativ Knollensellerie)
- 6 - 8 breite Schnippelbohnen
- 1 große Birne
- 4 - 6 schwarze Walnüsse
- 100 ml Wildfond
- 2 EL Butter
- 2 Stängel glatte Petersilie
- nach Geschmack Salz
Preheat the oven to 180 °C top and bottom heat. Clean, peel and trim the parsley roots. Clean the beans and cut into diagonal pieces. Blanch the parsley roots and beans separately in boiling salted water and rinse immediately in iced water.
Cut the walnuts into eighths and warm in the game stock. Wash the unpeeled pear, cut into eighths, remove the core and cut into thin slices. Fry the venison medallions on both sides in oil, then finish cooking in the oven for approx. 3 - 5 minutes.
In the meantime, toss the beans and parsley roots in melted butter and season with salt. Arrange the vegetables with the black walnuts and pear slices on large plates. Place the medallions on top, garnish with game stock, Béchamel sauce and bacon strips.
Tip: You can make your own black walnuts. To do this, prick the walnuts all over with a fork or skewer and place in water for 10 days. Change the water every day so that the tannic acid can drain off. Boil the nuts 3 times in salted water until they are deep black. Simmer with bay leaves and peppercorns for approx. 20 minutes until soft. Layer in preserving jars and cover with syrup. The nuts can be kept for approx. 1 year.
- Spätburgunder / Pinot Noir (trocken)
- Pinot Gris (trocken)
with pear wedges Chicken breast strips
with pear wedges
- 500 Gramm Hähnchenbrustfilet
- 2 reife Birnen
- 200 ml Birnensaft
- 100 ml Sahne
- 1 ganze Zwiebel
- 4 EL Olivenöl
- nach Belieben Salz & Pfeffer
Cut the chicken breast fillet into strips. Peel the onion and cut into cubes. Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the meat in it. Add the diced onion and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.
Wash and peel the pears, remove the skin, cut into wedges and sauté in the pan. Deglaze with the pear juice and allow to reduce slightly.
<p
<p>Finally, add the cream and season to taste.
- Müller-Thurgau (halbtrocken & feinherb)
- Kerner (halbtrocken & feinherb)
with honey and thyme Goat's cheese tower
with honey and thyme
- 1 großer Apfel
- 1 Rolle Ziegenkäse
- 4 Scheiben Bacon
- 4 TL Honig
- 1 TL Thymian
- 4 Blätter Eichblattsalat
- frische Zweige Thymian zum Garnieren
- nach Belieben Salz & Pfeffer
Preheat the grill to the highest setting.
Fry the bacon slices without fat in a non-stick frying pan until crispy and drain on a piece of kitchen paper. Leave the rendered fat in the pan.
Wash the apple, core it with a corer and then cut it into four, approx. 1 cm thick slices. Slowly fry the apple slices in the remaining bacon fat until just cooked, using the tip of a knife to check the doneness. Place the apple slices in a lightly greased baking dish, sprinkle with thyme and place a crispy fried bacon slice on top of each one.
Divide the goat's cheese into 4 thalers and place one thaler on each apple slice, sprinkle with thyme again and drizzle with 1 teaspoon of honey.
Bake under the grill until the cheese is lightly browned.
Serve the goat's cheese and apple tartlets on a lettuce leaf or, if you prefer, on a bed of lettuce (add a honey-flavoured dressing)
- Dornfelder (halbtrocken & feinherb)
the classic with a difference Franconian cider soup
the classic with a difference
- 500 ml Weißwein (Spätlese)
- 500 ml Geflügelbrühe
- 350 ml Sahne
- 30 Gramm Zwiebeln
- 30 Gramm Weißes vom Lauch
- 30 Gramm Sellerie
- 30 Gramm Karotten
- 30 Gramm Butter
- 180 Gramm Mehl
- 2 Lorbeerblätter
- 1 EL Butterschmalz
- 4 Scheiben Weißbrot
- Nach Belieben Zucker, Muskat, Zimt, Salz
Sauté the vegetables in butter until lightly browned, dust with flour and then add the vegetable stock, wine and 250 ml cream. Add the spices and simmer for approx. 15 minutes.
Remove the crusts from the slices of white bread and cut into 1 cm cubes. Fry in hot clarified butter until golden brown and season with cinnamon, whip the remaining cream until stiff.
<p
<p> Strain the soup and flavour with nutmeg and salt.
Pour into deep plates, garnish with whipped cream and the cinnamon crusts.
- Müller-Thurgau (trocken)
- Silvaner (trocken)
