The Wine and Cheese Pairing Guide Every Australian Needs

Wine and cheese is one of the great food pairings — and one of the most misunderstood. The old rule that “red wine goes with cheese” is wrong often enough to ruin a board. Here’s how to get it right.

The Core Principle

Match intensity to intensity. A delicate brie wants a light, crisp white. A sharp aged cheddar can handle a full-bodied Shiraz. Put the aged cheddar with the brie’s wine and you’ll taste nothing but tannin. Put the brie with the Shiraz and the cheese disappears.

Brie and Camembert

These are the gateway cheeses — mild, creamy, a little mushroomy. They want wines that don’t bulldoze them.

Best matches:

• Chardonnay (unoaked or lightly oaked) — try Leeuwin Estate Art Series Chardonnay from Margaret River
• Sparkling wine — a Jansz Premium Cuvée works perfectly and keeps the price reasonable
• Light Pinot Noir — the earthiness mirrors the mushroom notes in the rind

Avoid: anything with heavy tannin. Cabernet Sauvignon will strip the flavour out of camembert entirely.

Aged Cheddar and Gruyère

Sharp, salty, crystalline. These cheeses are assertive enough to stand up to red wine — just not any red wine.

Best matches:

• McLaren Vale Shiraz — the dark fruit and pepper hold up to the sharpness
• Cabernet Sauvignon — Coonawarra Cab is a classic, the earthy quality complements the cheese
• Aged Riesling — surprisingly good; the acidity cuts through the fat

Avoid: delicate whites. The sharpness of aged cheese overwhelms them.

Blue Cheese

This is where most people go wrong. Blue cheese — Gorgonzola, Roquefort, King Island Blue — is intensely salty and pungent. It doesn’t want dry red wine. It wants sweetness.

Best matches:

• Rutherglen Muscat — the match is almost embarrassingly good
• Late harvest Riesling — De Bortoli Noble One is the Australian benchmark
• Tawny port — rich, nutty, and exactly right

Avoid: dry reds. The tannin and salt create a metallic clash.

Goat’s Cheese

Fresh chèvre is lemony, tangy, and light. It wants high-acid whites.

Best matches:

• Clare Valley Riesling — the citrus and mineral notes are a direct echo of the cheese
• Sauvignon Blanc — crisp, herbaceous, and clean
• Dry Rosé — light enough not to overpower

Building a Cheese Board for a Crowd

If you’re putting out a board with multiple cheeses and don’t want multiple wines, go sparkling. A good Australian sparkling wine — Jansz, Croser, or Brown Brothers Prosecco — has the acidity and effervescence to work across the whole spectrum without clashing with anything.

The Shortlist

If in doubt, serve sparkling. It’s never wrong.