Hard Cheeses, Masterly Wine Paired

March 20, 2025

Hard Cheeses, Masterly Wine Paired

It ain’t a wine party without a generous wooden platter of hard cheeses, heaving with sharp flavours that await pairing with a bevy of whites and red. Come find your favourite hard cheeses from our master selection, we’ve done the heavy lifting of the wine pairing and telling you just why it works. Cheers!

Parmesan With Chianti

Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano which is the traditional full name, is a hard Italian cheese made from skimmed, unpasteurized cow’s milk, with a lengthy aging process: a minimum of two years and occasionally more than four. Parmesan’s known history dates back to the Middle Ages when monks in the Emilia-Romagna region began making a hard cheese and the cheese sits at the very top of the pecking order of Italian cheese. The popular hard cheese has flavours ranging from salty, sweet and grassy, to nutty and earthy and the very elusive umami flavour. Chianti and Parmesan cheese pair well together because this celebrated Sangiovese style’s acidity and tannins complement the cheese’s richness and saltiness. The wine’s fruit notes and herbal notes also contrast well with the cheese’s nutty and salty profile.

Cheddar With Cabernet Sauvignon

This English Cheese leads a curious double life, enjoying top of mind recognition owing to humongous industrial production. The original cheese traces its beginning to the village of Cheddar in England and is a great candidate for ageing. Once sufficiently evolved, the cheese takes on a fatty texture that’s ideal for full bodied new world Cabernet Sauvignon wines, softening and lengthening its biting tannins. The Cabernet Sauvignon in turn softens the nutty and earthy, aged Cheddar.

Fontal With Sangiovese

Fontal is a semi-hard Italian cheese which is a regular on cheese boards across the world. This cheese has flavours that balance sweetness and spice with mild texture and pairs well with full bodied Sangiovese wines that are led by berry fruit and tannins. The most famous Italian red wine perfectly complements the Italian cheese’s herbaceous and sweet notes while Fontal gives Sangiovese an interestingly elegant dimension and notably extending its length.

Edam With Malbec

Edam is a tremendously popular cheese that hails from a town of the same name in Northern Netherlands. Edam’s signature smooth and nutty flavours match beautifully with Malbec which is typically medium bodied with ripe red fruit on the palate. Both the cheese and wine are aromatic and balance each other rather than overpower, lifting the flavour of both wine and cheese.

Gruyere With Pinot Noir

Gruyère is one of Switzerland’s most notable hard cheeses. Classified as an Alpine cheese, Gruyere is a cheese that is a great candidate for ageing. When young, it’s nutty and creamy, evolving into something more complex and earthy when aged. Pinot Noir is an ideal companion to Gruyere given its delicate strawberry and cherry tones that perfectly foil Gruyere’s nutty and salty flavours while Gruyere adds to the Pinot’s length.

Manchego With Cava & Tempranillo

Manchego is a sheep’s milk cheese indigenous to Spain’s La Mancha region. This hard Spanish cheese tastes tangy and creamy when young and can evolve nutty flavours as it matures. Another great Spanish creation, Cava and Tempranillo pair perfectly with Manchego. Spain’s homegrown sparkling wine matches Manchego’s nutty flavours and bright acidity, lifting Manchego’s tart flavours and creamy texture. When it comes to Tempranillo, the bold and elegant red’s delicate balance of ripe fruit and good acidity highlight Manchego’s tangy and creamy character while the cheese plays down Tempranillo’s chewy tannins.

Monterey Jack With Merlot

Monterey Jack is America’s most famous local cheese that’s semi-hard with mild salty flavours. It’s most popular use is as a melted ingredient for Mexican and Tex Mex cuisine. Monterey Jack by itself pairs well with new world Merlot. The mild cheese’s flavours are amplified by the medium bodied French red wine and its generous palate of plum and spice. Classic Right Bank styles from Bordeaux New world Merlots are ideal matches for Monterey Jack.

Comte With Syrah

Comté is a famous French cheese produced from raw cow’s milk on the border with Switzerland – one of the reasons it’s also referred to as mountain cheese. The pale yellow semi-hard cheese tastes of varied flavours like fruit, nuts and a touch of smoke. Comte would do nicely with Syrah wines, especially from Rhone Valley. The Cote Du Rhone in particular, broadens the cheese’s range of flavours with its peppery and fruity notes and supple tannins while the Comte elevates the medium bodied wine’s palate.

Gouda With Riesling

Celebrated in a wide span of culinary cultures, Gouda is a hard cheese with roots in the southern regions of the Netherlands. Typically made from cow’s milk, this semi-hard cheese is characterised by its aromatic and caramel-like flavour combined with its dense and springy texture. Hints of nuts with sweet and creamy notes embrace your palate in a graceful sensation and, depending on the age, the finish ranges from smooth to sharp. The flavours are imparted, to a great extent, from the natural pastures on which the cattle graze, and the development of salt crystals gives it a crumbling texture as the cheese ages. Gouda finds an ideal foil in off dry and sweet Rieslings, chiefly from the Mosel Valley that complement the full bodied and opulent flavours of the Gouda with plentiful tropical fruit, minerality and inherent sweetness.

Grana Padano With Barbaresco

Grana Padano is a hard Italian cheese that dates back to the Cistercian monks of the Chiaravalle Abbey and originated in northern Italy’s Po River Valley. The cheese has a distinctly savoury and nutty flavour and dense texture with a lingering lingering aftertaste. Categorised as a grating cheese, it is often used to elevate the flavours of a range of authentic Italian and international dishes, adding a nutty and savory flavor. It is generally aged for 16 to 20 months. This process helps build complexity and richness into the cheese. The Grana Padano pairs nicely with wines from the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, especially Barbaresco which is produced from the star local grape, Nebbiolo. The hallmark sour cheery and herbaceous notes of Barbaresco coupled with its full bodied character add further dimension to Grana Padano’s savoury and creamy notes.