Goat cheese is made of complex layers of flavor and sometimes funky character, which can make pairing with wine challenging. Choosing a wine from the below list will increase the odds of finding a harmonious pairing with goat cheese, one that will show off the flavors of the cheese and the wine.
- Goat Cheese Made with Starter Culture.
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Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is the wine most often chosen to accompany goat cheese and for good reason. The zippy acidity in the wine matches the acidity in the cheese. The combination of sauvignon Blanc and goat cheese is fresh and invigorating.
This classic pairing is also a regional one – France’s Loire Valley is famous for bothchèvre and the Sauvignon Blanc based wine Sancerre.
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- Goat Cheese Mousse.
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Albarino
Albarino is a white Spanish wine known for its bold acidity and citrusy flavor. It is a crisp, clean wine that can stand up to the tangiest of fresh goat cheeses.
- Handmade Goat Cheese.
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Riesling
Riesling rarely meets a cheese it doesn’t like. The wine offers everything – lush texture and fruit, refreshing acidity and a long flavorful finish.
Fresh goat cheeses with a mellow, milky flavor pair well, as do aged goat cheeses with a harder texture and earthier, floral flavor.
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Chardonnay
Choose Chardonnay with a creamy texture (but not too much oak) and refreshing flavors of apples and pears – perhaps a French Macon-Villages, Pouilly-Fuisse or Chablis.
Serve Chardonnay with aged goat cheeses, such as Spanish Garrotxa or domestic Tumalo Tomme or Sunlight Goat cheese.
- Chevre Noir. © Image 2014 Jennifer Meier
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Syrah
Reach for a bottle of Syrah from Washington state or California, one that has big ripe flavors of ripe summer berries. The lush fruit will mellow out the funky, bitter flavors that some people find overwhelming in soft goat cheese. Syrah can also pair well the sweet, rich flavors in Goat Gouda or goat cheddar. Look for Midnight Moon or Chevre Noir.
By Jennifer Meier, Cheese Expert, About Food