The Winemusing Sessions ‘Wine & Cheese’ adventures

To minimise handling, these sessions will be run with wine samples provided as usual, but with you supplying your own cheese. This allows you to choose where you purchase your cheese, the brand or producer of the cheese and the budget you are prepared to pay for your cheese.

This also allows people to choose their budget to keep these sessions inclusive. Plenty of time will be given prior to the course to allow people to include the cheese in their next shop.

Here is what you need: 

These sessions will include an exercise where you match the wines provided with different cheeses. To get the best from your session, it is recommended that you have at least the same number of cheese types as wines. I would recommend no more than 5 – 6 cheeses though. 

The exercise uses a specific selection of cheese types that will best highlight the interaction between that cheese and wine. (For Winemusing Sessions where 4 wines are provided, the exercise sheet may include 5 cheeses.) 

Note: It is good to buy cheeses that are from the regions they are best known and not those made elsewhere in the ‘style of’ as this may affect the full interaction of the wine and cheese.  

Cheese for Six wines

Chevre

Brie

Cheddar

Stilton

Comte

Truffle Cheddar

How much do you need

As much as you want! Of course. But you will probably want around 50-100 g of each cheese to have enough for the exercise.

Quality

In the UK, we are blessed with some excellent cheese choices in our supermarkets. You don’t need to purchase your cheese from a specific deli or cheese shop to enjoy the exercise. My only advice is that you purchase cheeses that are from the region or specified type, for a better result. 

What else can I add to my cheese plate?

Plain crackers are a great idea. They can help you to reset the tastes in your mouth between the wine and the cheese. 

Any of the following are good suggestions for adding variety to your plate. Please avoid strong flavours that will overwhelm and influence the wine or the cheese, or both.

– nuts
– fruit, fresh or raw
– crisps
– quince paste or chutney.