From a ‘pull-out-all-the-stops’ platter to leftover Cheddar melted into a comforting toastie, cheese is a festive mainstay that pairs beautifully with various wine categories.
When it comes to pairing sparkling wine and cheese – as with most food and wine matching – there are no hard and fast rules, with individual taste being the most important factor. But sparkling is one of the easiest – and most decadent – wine categories for cheese.
When considering any wine and food match, grape variety and style of course play a part, but the added bonus with sparkling wine is that the bubbles cut a cleanliness through the fat in cheese, creating a pleasing mouthfeel and texture.
And you really don’t have to spend a fortune on that perfect sparkler, as demonstrated by the great value to be found in our selection below.
Cheese and sparkling wine: Where to start
When it comes to pairing sparkling wine and cheese, there are various approaches you may want to take as a starting point.
A useful aspect to consider is balancing the respective weight and intensity of the cheese with the sparkling wine. A tangy mozzarella light in flavour would be a great pairing for a fresh and easy-drinking wine, so as not to overpower the delicate flavour of the cheese.
The same wine would be lost on an aged Comté, with a stronger, nutty taste, as the cheese calls out for a weightier companion, perhaps a Champagne or other traditional-method sparkler with extended lees ageing to give autolytic notes of brioche and toast.
Sweet and salty
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Just as sweeter styles of still wine can work well with blue cheese, so too do off-dry or demi-sec sparklers. The ever-appealing mixture of sweetness and acidity from the wine is a great match for the tangy saltiness of the cheese.
To impress your guests with a point of difference, consider pairing a sparkling sake with blue cheese. Sake has lower acidity than wine, but an abundance of umami flavour which works to enhance the similar characteristics in blue cheese. A great example is Lachamte’s Sparkling Junmai Hideyoshi, which has a hint of sweetness underpinning its savoury depth and salty, earthy characteristics.
Taking a regional approach
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The old adage ‘what grows together, goes together’ could offer some great inspiration in terms of pairing sparkling wine and cheese from the same regions.
A Chenin-dominant Crémant de Loire would make a lovely complement to a tangy local crottin – the acidity of the Chenin cutting through the cheese and creating a clean and smooth mouthfeel. Chassaux et Fils’ Specially Selected offering would be a solid place to start. You could take the flavour profile one step further and source a herb-crusted goat cheese to accompany Domaine des Grandes Espérance’s Barbule Extra Brut – a Crémant which ‘deserves food, ideally with the same subtle herbal nuances,’ according to Decanter contributor Anne Krebiehl MW.
Langres Fermier, a cow’s milk cheese with a distinctive orange rind and ‘fontaine’ dip in the centre, comes from Champagne-Ardenne. ‘Given the region it comes from, Champagne would be the perfect match, especially if you’ve splashed a little Champagne on the cheese,’ says Patricia Michelson, founder of London cheese store La Fromagerie.
Moving over to Italy, how about an Ubriaco al Prosecco, a cow’s milk cheese from Veneto which is soaked in Prosecco must for a number of months, hence the name ‘ubriaco’, meaning ‘drunk’. The prolonged contact with the grape must gives the cheese a fruity characteristic, making it a great pairing with the obvious partner, a chilled glass of Prosecco, such as Asda’s Exceptional expression.
Or you could stay closer to home with a creamy, salty mature Cheddar. Perfect with a glass or two of English sparkling, such as Morrisons The Best offering, aged for six years on the lees giving it savoury pastry notes.
A matter of character
You could even start with a specific sparkling wine and then choose your cheese accordingly.
I recently popped open a bottle of Sugrue South Downs’ Rosé Ex Machina – a delight as an aperitif but which really came into its own with a pop of saltiness and umami in the form of a mushroom and parmesan canapé.
Take inspiration from our wine recommendations below – including our tasters’ thoughts on specific sparkling wine and cheese pairings. However you decide to match, the most important thing is to enjoy the process of discovery.
