I’m from Wisconsin. I love cheese.

My perfect meal is cheese.

Whether it’s paired with amazing wine or beautiful sides and toppings…or straight out of the tub, I love it!

I am no expert on cheese and wine pairings. I just made what I think is a super solid cheese spread and thought I would share the deliciousness with you!

 

I had a friend (yes, all this cheese for just the two of us…though Mikey and his cousin showed up later and helped us) over for a cheese and wine lunch (which inevtiably turned into an early bedtime).

I didn’t do much research before I went out and  bought my cheeses and things…I just went with what I love and it turns out I followed a lot of the actual “rules” in making a cheese plate!

I’ll give you a little how-to guide that you can follow. Here is what I’ve got:

1. You don’t need a ton of different types of cheese and you want to avoid anything with “added” flavors. You want to avoid things that have added herbs or spices because they may not pair with all the other toppings you have out. Plus, other additives distract from the true flavor of the cheese.

2. Keep your sauces (mustard, jam, honey) off to the side rather than pouring them over the cheese. That way you can try the cheese alone or with all the other toppings, deciding which pairing you like best.

3. Funky. Creamy. Gooey. Sweet. Salt. I feel like you need to have a few cheeses that fall into these categories. Something to please everyone!

4. Make sure you have your cheese out at the right temperature and pre-sliced or at least have the proper utensils available to slice the it. The last thing you want is for someone to walk away with half your block of Brie because it was too hard to slice.

 

I wanted to have some other jams and sauces to go with the cheese. I mixed some Greek honey with some toasted pecans and it was great. I also used a spicy pepper jelly and some hot brown mustard. I sliced up some apples and pears as well as some salami.

I picked out a nice French baguette and some gluten free crackers and then some olives, roasted red peppers and marinated artichokes.

I don’t know much about pairing wine with cheese…I just know I like wine, and I like cheese…therefore I eat them together. We had a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Rose and a Prosecco. They were all delicious with the cheeses.