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Cheese · Wine pairing

What wine goes with blue cheese?

Salty, pungent blue cheese needs sweetness: Port, Sauternes or late-harvest Riesling. Salty-sweet is the magic.

The rule: Strong, salty cheese → sweet wine.

By Rate This Wine editors · Updated · How we rate

Blue cheese

The 3 best wines with blue cheese

  1. Port

    1 Port Sweet fortified red

    Stilton and Port is the British classic.

    Serve Ruby 60-64°F; Tawny 55-60°F Ruby from $15; 10-year Tawny $30

  2. Sauternes & dessert whites

    2 Sauternes & dessert whites Sweet white

    Roquefort and Sauternes is the French one.

    Serve 45-50°F Half bottles from $20

  3. Riesling

    3 Riesling Aromatic white, dry to sweet

    Late-harvest Riesling for Gorgonzola.

    Serve 45-50°F From $12

Best on a budget: Ruby or LBV Port.

Also good

GewürztraminerZinfandel

What to avoid

  • Dry, light whites. Overpowered by the funk.

It depends how you cook it

If you’re having…Pour
Gorgonzola pastaBarbera or off-dry Riesling.
Blue cheese burgerZinfandel.

The salty-sweet rule

Blue cheese is intensely salty and pungent. Dry wines taste thin and bitter next to it, but sweet wines create a contrast that makes both sing: the same reason salted caramel works.

The classic pairings are regional: English Stilton with Port, French Roquefort with Sauternes, Italian Gorgonzola with sweet passito or late-harvest wine. A little goes a long way: serve small pours.

Frequently asked questions

What wine goes with Stilton?

Port: the sweetness balances the salty, pungent cheese.

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