Unlock the perfect match: Cheese and sparkling wine pairing guide

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

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

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.

Cheese and sparkling wine: 10 to try

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