How to Pair Champagne and Cheese, According to Pros
If you’re anything like us, you’ll be drinking at least one bottle of bubbly on New Year’s Eve. We can thank the French aristocracy and toast some late-19th-century marketing mavens for associating Champagne with celebrations, especially major ones like the start of a new year. However the tradition got started, it’s proven its staying power — in the U.S., 20 percent of all sparkling wine is sold in December.
While oysters, fried chicken, and berries might be the first food pairings that come to mind when thinking about bubbles, every good celebration is better with cheese. So we turned to cheesemongers and wine pros for some of their favorite champs-and-cheese duos. As the team at Antonelli’s Cheese in Austin says, “the bubbles lift the richness of the cheese and the cheese grounds the Champagne, making each taste brighter than the last.”
Read on for pairings that will bring out the best in both Champagne and cheese.
Pairing Basics
If you’re drinking various varietals or expect guests to bring bottles, you’ll want a cheese that goes well with any type of wine. Isabelle Brosen, assistant manager of events and education at Murray’s Cheese in New York City, says that “as a general rule of thumb, we tend to pair Champagnes with younger, less aged cheeses.” These softer cheeses “can coat your mouth more, and the sparkling aspect of the wine will act like scrubbing bubbles on the palate, having a cleansing effect and making it easier to keep going back for more.”
A log of goat cheese, a wheel of brie, and even a youthful cheddar would be a good starting point for your NYE cheese board. Randall Felts, owner of Beautiful Rind in Chicago, recommends Oma, a washed-rind cow’s milk cheese, from Von Trapp Farmstead in Vermont as “an all-around great cheese for any Champagne” thanks to its funkiness, fudginess, and richness. It’s semi-soft, aged for 60–90 days, and leans slightly adventurous in flavor.
The Best Cheese Pairings for Drier Champagnes
If your bottle is labeled brut, brut nature, extra brut, or extra dry, you’re drinking something with a sugar content on the lower end of the spectrum. Brut is the most popular type of Champagne; it’s crisp and refreshing with great versatility.
To complement drier Champagnes, Brosen sticks to young, bloomy, and washed-rind cheeses with a little bit of funk. If you’ve ever wondered what the wrinkly cheeses that look like brains taste like, this is the time to find out. “That unique rind will have aromas and flavors that will pair beautifully with the yeasty, toasty, and nutty aromas found in a classic dry Champagne,” she says.
Casie Wiginton, a Certified Cheese Professional and WSET diploma candidate who works at Antonelli’s Cheese, also recommends wrinkly cheeses with these dry wines. Consider Bonne Bouche, a soft-ripened goat cheese from Vermont Creamery that goes especially well with an extra-dry rosé Champagne. “The bright acidity of this wrinkly little cheese mirrors the hallmark acidity of Champagne, while the dusty raspberry notes of the wine and a hint of sweetness from the dosage play oh so well with the distinct minerality of pure, clean goat’s milk,” she says. “As the bubbles melt through the gooey, delicate rind on contact, they simultaneously bounce off the marshmallow-like core of the cheese, evoking a nostalgic sensory memory of Pop Rocks and childhood joy.” This combo sounds like a great way to ring in the new year to us.
Both Brosen and Wiginton also endorse Langres, another ridged-rind cheese that happens to be crafted in Champagne. It’s made with cow’s milk and washed with a saltwater brine as it ages so it develops “savory notes like broth and salted peanut shells,” according to Wiginton. It’s also great if you’re looking for a fun centerpiece: As the cheese ripens, the top “begins to collapse like a soufflé,” she adds. “Traditionally, it’s served in a bowl with just a splash of Champagne poured over the top, creating a science-fair-volcano-style eruption.”
Another visually appealing, and of course delicious, pairing comes from Hugo Wai, general manager and wine director at Roscioli in New York City. He’s drinking Vilmart & Cie Coeur de Cuvée 2016 with a side of Rogue River Blue from Oregon. The award-winning cheese is seasonal and wrapped in Syrah grape leaves soaked in pear spirits. Wai says, “a Champagne with a touch of extra dosage … nicely offsets the cheese’s saltiness and brings out its subtle smokiness” for an indulgent pairing.
The Best Cheese Pairings for Sweeter Champagnes
Sweet Champagnes are labeled sec, demi-sec, and doux. They make a natural pairing with desserts — but then again, a cheese plate can be a fantastic dessert. Brosen suggests a mild bloomy rind or a buttery triple cream like Brillat Savarin or Crémeux de Bourgogne. “Cheeses like this tend to emphasize the beauty of the flavor of the milk, and since they are not aged very long, to our palate they don’t come across as salty as an older cheese,” she says. A cheese in these categories that you would enjoy with jam or honey is likely to be a good fit with a sweeter Champagne.
If your bottle is bready with notes of biscuits and yeast, Felts would steer you toward a wrinkly rinded goat cheese like the ash-coated Sainte-Maure from France or Shabby Shoe from Blakesville Creamery in Wisconsin. “The earthiness and acidity of cheeses help those wines shine,” he says. For something more acid-driven, he prefers an Alpine cheese like Gruyère, Comté, or Tennessee-made Cumberland from Sequatchie Cove Creamery.
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