Red wine with fish and white wine with cheese … It is possible to shake the habits at the table, provided you follow a few rules.
It is traditional to serve white wine with fish and red wine with cheese . Role reversal is possible. But it’s about having some notions in mind not to do anything.
Fish and fresh wines
If the alliance between fish and white wine is more obvious, you can also serve red wine … but not just any wine with any fish. With a fish steamed or served with a white butter or a Dutch sauce, forget the red that will kill the delicacy of flavors and stay on a white.
On the other hand, if you cook a grilled fish on a barbecue or a plancha, tuna, salmon, swordfish for example, or a monkfish with the Armorican, you can dare a red wine. But do not drown your dish under too tannic waves.
For fish, you always need delicacy. Forget the wines of the South West, too well built and turn to grape varieties that give lighter and fresher wines. And it does not lack: the pinot noir of Alsace or Burgundy for example will bring subtle notes. Syrah from the Rhone Valley with slightly spicy flavors may also be suitable.
Excellent weddings are also possible with wines from the Loire Valley. A gamay of Touraine or Anjou or a black chenin with subtle chords are quite appropriate.
Cheeses and white wines, the perfect marriage
The cheese is often accompanied by a glass of red wine. This is a mistake because, in most cases, the agreement with a glass of white wine will be much more successful. But the case remains delicate because each type of cheese will find its balance with one wine rather than another.
Let’s start with goat cheeses. With a Valençay, a Pouligny Saint-Pierre or a Sainte-Maure de Touraine, choose a regional agreement with a Sancerre for example whose minerality will highlight the flavours.
With the county, gruyère, Beaufort, pressed cheeses, we prefer a Burgundy whose slight acidity will exhale the fruity taste.
The blue-veined cheeses (Auvergne blue, Fourme d’Ambert or Roquefort and Gorgonzola) go well with a sweeter wine, a Sauternes or a Monbazillac or, why not, a wine from Anjou Coteaux-du-Layon.
With Camembert, Pont-l’Evêque, brie and cheeses with floral dough, it gets complicated. Better to opt for red wine or cider.
Finally, if you have decided to offer your guests a tour of France cheeses, choose a white wine from the Rhone Valley that will offer a successful alliance with your plate.
We remind you that alcohol abuse is dangerous for your health. To consume with moderation.
