Pairing Bordeaux Wines & Cheese

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The successful pairing of wine and cheese involves science, culture and tradition, but ultimately personal preference. As with any happy coupling, the right pairing can feel magical, elevating both parties to new heights but it can also be complicated. Wine, like cheese, is complex with aromas, flavors and textures to consider. Cheese can be fatty, rich, sweet, and creamy. It can have noticeable salinity, acidity or funk. It can be fruity. earthy, nutty, floral or herbal. So too can wine. Cheese can bring out the most desirable qualities in a wine and tone down some of the harsher aspects. For specific pairings we recently talked to members of winemaking families in Bordeaux, one of the most famous wine regions in the world, to get their picks. 

Château Robin 2018 ($11.99) & Saint Marcellin

Winemaker Jan Thienpont of Château Robin says, “Château Robin 2018 goes perfectly with a creamy young Saint Marcellin cheese that you can eat with a spoon. This vintage offers fine and round tannins creating a pleasant contrast with the creamy texture of this runny cheese. The red and juicy fruits in the wine make the fat of the cheese very delicate and tasty.” The wines of Château Robin are typically Bordeaux blends with mostly Merlot, some Cabernet Franc, and just a touch of both Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec, aged for 12 months in oak barrels. The wines balance acidity with silky tannins and minerality.

Le Vieux Château Guibeau 2016 ($30) & Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) Goat

Photo credit Amy Sherman

Photo credit Amy Sherman

Brigitte Destouet of  Le Vieux Château Guibeau in Puisseguin-Saint-Émilion, a region which produces only red wine, says “Our wine goes well with all cheeses, but we love to enjoy it with warm goat cheese served on a nice slice of country bread and sprinkled with Espelette peppers (local peppers from the Basque Country, near the Spanish border) and a few drops of olive oil. The goat cheese must be an AOC goat with character and finesse at the same time. The Espelette chili pepper brings a delicate strength and a spicy perfume. The pairing with our wine is interesting at the moment when all the flavors and character meet. This is why I suggest a Vieux Château Guibeau 2018, still a little young, but with all its ardor. It is ready to compete with the character of the slightly spicy cheese. The young and powerful wine faces the cheese of character, the whole melts in the mouth with a little spicy note due to the chili pepper. A real delight!” 

Château Simon AOC Graves 2017 ($18) & Crottin de Chavignol

When it comes to dry white wines, Pauline Dufour of Château Simon likes Crottin de Chavignol roasted in the oven on country bread paired with Château Simon. The Graves is a 50% Sauvignon Blanc 50% Semillon blend. Fermented in both stainless steel and oak barrels, it is elegant and round, yet still fresh.

Says Dufour, “It is interesting to marry the creamy texture of the warm crottin de Chavignol, the salty touch of this cheese and the toasted aromas of an artisanal bread with a Graves Blanc du Château Simon 2017. The Graves Blanc vintage 2017 is very aromatic with a hint of minerality reminiscent of the salinity of the Crottin de Chavignol. The years have made it possible to gain in fatness, and this wine is round thanks to the Sémillon which softens the goaty notes of this cheese and brings fruity aromas to the whole.”

Château Simon AOC Sauternes 2015 ($27 375ml) & Roquefort

Dufour likes Sauternes with Roquefort. “Roquefort is a mythical ewe's milk cheese matured for months in the cellars. This powerful cheese with a strong character goes deliciously with a Sauternes Château Simon 2015: fruity with rich touches of lychee and fresh notes at the end of the mouth. The Sauternes Château Simon 2015 brings sweetness through its complex notes of exotic and citrus fruits to this exuberant cheese. Thus the whole is naturally balanced in the mouth! A delicacy.” She recommends Roquefort cheese puff pastry, Roquefort toast or fresh Roquefort ravioli.  

Château Dauphiné Rondillon  Cuvée or 2015 ($24 375ml) & Blue cheese

Another sweet wine from Bordeaux is Loupiac. Sandrine Froleon of Château Dauphiné Rondillon also likes blue cheese and noble late harvest wine Château Dauphiné Rondillon. “This is not a conventional pairing,” she says, as many French people are drinking red wine with cheese, but the pairing is a real success for several reasons. She explains, “Blue cheese has a bitter flavor dominant with acidity. Noble late harvest wines naturally have sugar and acidity. The sugar balances the bitterness perfectly for this pairing.” She also mentions the textures. “Cheese naturally has fatty acids. The natural fructose in the noble late harvest wines perfectly complements the fatty acids of the cheese giving roundness to the wine and a very soft pairing.” Last but not least, the incredible aromas. “Due to the botrytis process, noble late harvest wines are made from a noble fungus, botrytis, develops a high concentration of aromas, especially lactone and cetone molecules. The blue cheese is made also from a fungus, Penicillium roqueforti, developing similar cetone molecules. This is the scientific way to explain that blue cheese and noble late harvest wines have very strong aromatic links with similar aromas.” she explains.

Château Angludet 2002 ($69.99) & Brie de Meaux truffé

While we’ve deliberately chosen more accessible and less expensive Bordeaux wines, we thought a vintage Bordeaux should be included as well.

Daisy Sichel represents the seventh generation of her family to be involved in viticulture says, “I have always been a big fan of pairing creamy cheeses and old vintages. This is why I’ll choose a Brie de Meaux truffé (with truffle) and Château Angludet 2002. The evolved fruits, the elegance, the character and the personality of the wine will perfectly balance with the truffle and the soft and the creamy aspect of the cheese. I think this is a quite typical pairing for wines with big personalities, which is totally the case for the Château Angludet wine.”

Editor’s note: Our sincere thanks to Vins de Bordeaux for all their help with this story.

Pairings, AlcoholAmy ShermanFrench, Goat, Cow