Kamil Perry
Moscato is a complex, delicate, and sweet wine with a signature taste and bursting fruit aromas. It is a natural choice for appetisers and pairs well with dessert or cheese. The key to pairing wine with food is balance. Since Moscato is sweet, it goes well with foods that have an opposite flavour profile – salty, bitter, spicy, and even sour. Thus, this wine is nicely paired with aromatic foods, cured meats, and soft, creamy cheeses.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Cheese type | Soft, creamy cheeses |
| Cheese texture | Soft |
| Cheese flavour | Salty, bitter, spicy, sour, tangy, funky |
| Cheese origin | Same region as the wine |
| Cheese temperature | Room temperature |
What You'll Learn
Blue cheese
Moscato is a sweet, fruity wine with notes of peaches and white flowers. Its sweetness is balanced by the acidity of the grapes, creating a delicate flavour profile. The wine is also lightly fizzy, making it a great choice for an aperitif or digestif.
The key to a successful wine and cheese pairing is balance. Moscato's sweetness is complemented by salty, bitter, spicy, and sour flavours. Blue cheese, with its salty, tangy, and funky characteristics, fits the bill perfectly. The sweetness of the Moscato harmonises with the saltiness of the blue cheese, creating a delightful contrast that enhances the flavour of both.
When serving blue cheese with Moscato, it is recommended to chill the wine and serve the cheese at room temperature. This temperature contrast will further elevate the experience.
Some blue cheeses to consider for this pairing include:
- Roquefort: A well-known French blue cheese made from sheep's milk and aged in natural caves.
- Gorgonzola: An Italian blue cheese made from cow's milk.
- Stilton: A classic English blue cheese.
- Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen: An award-winning raw milk blue cheese from Vermont.
- Dunbarton Blue: A unique, firm, blue-veined cheddar-style cheese from Wisconsin.
- Chiriboga Blue: A pungent artisanal cheese crafted in the Bavarian Alps by an Ecuadorian cheesemaker.
For a truly indulgent experience, toss some almonds and dried apricots on the plate to accompany the blue cheese and Moscato. This combination will provide a satisfying end to a memorable dinner.
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Goat's cheese
Goats cheese is a great pairing with Moscato. This is because Moscato is a sweet wine, so it pairs well with foods that have the opposite flavour profile. Goats cheese is soft, creamy, and has a tangy flavour that is just asking to be enhanced by the acidic character of a citrusy Moscato. The slight heaviness of the cheese is cut through by the wine's acidity, allowing both the wine and the cheese to express their own flavours fully.
Goats cheese, or chèvre in French, is a home cook's secret weapon when it comes to creating rich-tasting dishes. It has a rich, tangy flavour that makes it a delicious, creamy addition to countless recipes. Whether you're adding it to pizza and pasta sauces, spreading it on toast, stuffing it into baked chicken and turkey, or sprinkling it over salads, goats cheese is a versatile ingredient.
When pairing Moscato with goats cheese, it is best to serve the cheese at room temperature to maximise its flavour. It is also worth noting that, generally, wine and cheese pairings should be based on personal taste. However, some good principles to follow are:
- Pair sweet wines with salty and creamy cheeses, with high acidity
- Choose smooth and fatty cheese for more acidic wines
- Serve light cheese with light-bodied white wines
- Offer spicy cheeses with off-dry whites
- Open fruity and crispy wines with white cheeses
- Try soft cheeses with dry fresh red wines
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Parmesan
When pairing Parmesan with Moscato, it is important to consider the origin of the cheese. Parmesan is an Italian cheese, and Moscato is an Italian wine, so they are a natural pairing. The wine's fruity and floral notes will complement the salty, nutty flavour of the cheese.
One source suggests that Pink Moscato is the best variety to pair with Parmesan. This is because the strawberry flavours in the wine complement the salty, crumbly texture of the cheese.
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Brie
When pairing wine and cheese, it is important to consider the origin of the cheese, its texture, and its type. Choosing a cheese from the same region as the wine is ideal, and serving it at room temperature will maximise its flavour. As Moscato is an Italian wine, choosing a salty or sour cheese is a good option. Brie is a soft cheese that can stand up to the fruit character of Moscato without overshadowing its power.
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Pepper Jack
Moscato is a delicate, fizzy, sweet wine with bursting fruit aromas and pleasant floral notes. It is a natural choice for appetisers but is also preferred alongside dessert or a plate of cheese. As a sweet wine, it goes well with foods that have an opposite flavour profile, such as salty, bitter, spicy, and even sour. This is why Moscato is nicely paired with aromatic foods, cured meats, and soft, creamy cheeses.
The key to pairing wine with food is balance. The creamier the cheese, the more acidity the wine can have, and the harder the cheese, the more tannins. Pepper Jack is a semi-soft cheese with a creamy texture and a buttery taste, so it will go well with a sweet wine like Moscato.
When it comes to wine and cheese pairings, it is generally recommended to choose a cheese from the same region as the wine, when possible, and to serve it at room temperature to maximise its flavour. Moscato wine originates from Italy, so choosing a salty or sour cheese to pair with it is a good idea.
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Frequently asked questions
Moscato, or Muscat, is one of the oldest varieties of wine grapes in the world. It is grown almost everywhere worldwide but is most commonly associated with wines from Piedmont in Northern Italy. It is a complex but delicate fizzy wine with a signature sweet taste, bursting fruit aromas, and pleasant floral notes.
Since Moscato is a sweet wine, it goes well with foods that have an opposite flavor profile – salty, bitter, spicy, and even sour. Therefore, the best cheeses to pair with Moscato are creamy, soft, and salty cheeses. Some examples include goat cheese, blue cheese, Gouda, Italian cheese such as Burrata, and hard cheeses like Grana Padano and Parmigiano Reggiano.
Moscato pairs well with seafood, chicken, and vegetarian dishes, especially those with fruit or spice. For example, a spinach and goat cheese salad with strawberries, or a Belgian endive salad with blue cheese and pears. It also goes well with Indian, Thai, and Mexican food.
Moscato pairs well with fruit or creamy desserts, such as apple pie, peach cobbler, and ice cream.
Salty snacks like chips and nuts pair well with Moscato. Other options include fruits, roasted nuts, or prosciutto.
