Blue cheese is a rich cheese with a characteristic slaty yet intense flavor. Sometimes there can be subtle notes of sweetness.
It has a soft, crumbly yet creamy texture that is highly addicting. Blue cheese was meant to be served with a glass of wine.
However, choosing a wine pairing for blue cheese can be difficult. Luckily, I’ve got the perfect wine pairings for blue cheese.
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Tips for Blue Cheese and Wine Pairings
Before purchasing any bottle of wine to pair with blue cheese, consider these wine pairing tips.
Strong blue cheeses need bold wines. If they are served with wines with a subtle flavor, the blue cheese’s flavor will overpower the wine’s flavor.
Blue cheese has a unique salty flavor that works well with fruity sweet wines such as port wine.
Pair mild blue cheese with light-bodied or fruity wines. Wines such as Rose or Pinot Noir pair well with blue cheese with a mild flavor.
These wines will not overpower the blue cheese’s delicate flavor.
What Wine Pairs With Blue Cheese?
There are several types of blue cheeses, so we will discuss wine pairings for every occasion.
Palfuoco Blue Cheese
Although there is a spicy version of gorgonzola, it does not compare to Palfuoco blue cheese. In short, Palfuoco blue cheese is cheese made with chili peppers.
The chili peppers give the sweet blue cheese a spicy flavor. Typically, Palfuoco blue cheese is served with bread.
Palfuoco blue cheese works well with dry white wines. It also pairs well-structured red wines with the perfect balance of tannins, alcohol, fruit, and sugar.
Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Amedeo wines work perfectly with Palfuoco blue cheese.
Stilton
Stilton cheese is a delicacy in the world of blue cheese. It has a rich yet subtle flavor with a robust aftertaste.
High-quality stilton cheese has a delicate, subtle sweetness and a nutty, salty aftertaste. Nevertheless, it still has the same creamy blue cheese texture we all know and love.
Port wine is a classic pairing for stilton cheese. The flavor of Port varies according to the style. Some port wines are aged in oak barrels until it is oxidized and tawny.
Other types of port wine, like Ruby Port, are aged in the bottle to maintain specific tannin levels giving it a red color.
A young Ruby Port wine that is not overly tannic is perfect for stilton cheese. This wine is complex enough to cut through the creamy texture of the stilton cheese.
But more importantly, the Ruby Port is complex enough to stand up to the flavor of the stilton.
Ruby Port also has a fruity flavor and slight acidity that helps soften the cheese’s salty taste.
Occasionally, the middle of stilton blue cheese is crumbled and packed into a jar.
This gives the stilton cheese a smooth, creamy texture and enhances its aromatic flavor.
Therefore, crumbled stilton cheese deserves to be paired with another fortified wine, such as Sherry.
Sherry has a nutty, fruity, and salty flavor that enhances the flavor of the stilton.
Muscat also works well for stilton cheese. Muscat is a fragrant wine with a lychee flavor that contrasts nicely with the nutty, salty taste of the stilton.
All in all, the Muscat wine will allow the stilton’s flavor to shine through.
Mild Gorgonzola Cheese
Mild gorgonzola has a slightly earthy, salty flavor. Off-dry prosecco wine pairs well with mild gorgonzola. It mutes the salty taste of the gorgonzola cheese and balances out its flavor.
Prosecco has a crisp, citrus flavor and a subtle nutty flavor. The nutty flavor pairs well with the nutty gorgonzola cheese.
Piccante Gorgonzola
Piccante gorgonzola or spicy gorgonzola is intensely flavored blue cheese. Piccante has more blue-green marbling, and it’s incredibly spicy.
The spiciness is because Piccante gorgonzola is aged for at least 80 days.
When pairing wine with Piccante gorgonzola, choose low-alcoholic wines. Wines with high alcohol content can increase the cheese’s spicy flavor.
Vin Santo is the perfect wine for Piccantegorgonzola. Vin Santo is one of Italy’s best dessert wines. It has intense flavors of honey, caramel, raisin, and honey.
Vin Santo’s flavor tones down the robust, intense flavor of Piccante gorgonzola. The wine’s acidity provides a refreshing taste that cleanses the palette.
Fruity Blue Cheese
Blue cheese can also be made with fruit such as blueberry. Blueberry blue cheese is soft and super creamy. However, the blueberries provide a refreshing burst of sweetness.
Red wines pair perfectly with blueberry blue cheese. Villa Antinori Rosso is perfect for blueberry blue cheese.
Villa Antinori is a full-bodied, well-structured wine with soft tannins and a savory aftertaste. It has a rich ruby-red color and an intense, fragrant flavor.
The flavor has notes of blueberries, black currants, toasted hazelnuts, spices, and vanilla.
The fruity flavor enhances the blueberry flavor of the blue cheese. The nutty, spicy flavor balances out the blue cheese’s sweet, salty, and creamy flavor.
Roquefort Cheese
Roquefort cheese is the highest quality blue cheese. It is made with sheep’s milk, which has a beautiful white color and a distinctive sweet flavor. Roquefort cheese is one of the oldest styles of making blue cheese.
Roquefort cheese is known for its bitter flavor from the blue mold. The sweetness comes from the sheep’s milk.
TokajiAszú pairs beautifully with Roquefort cheese. It is a Hungarian dessert wine that boasts sweet apricot, nuts, vanilla, toffee, and orange zest.
These sweet flavors can stand up to the Roquefort cheese’s strong flavor. The sweetness balances out the salty robust flavors.
Final Thoughts
Blue cheese is a delicacy. There is no other way to enjoy it than with a glass of wine. The right glass of wine will cut through the cheese’s creamy texture and enhance its robust salty flavor.