White Wine
Red Wine
Sparkling Wine
Dessert Wine
Cheese
BBQ


VQA: VQA=100% BC - All British Columbia wines bearing the VQA symbol must be made from 100% BC grown grapes. The wines are screened by a professional tasting panel and wines found faulty cannot be sold as VQA wines.

Geography: The southern Okanagan Valley in the area between Oliver and the border is classified as part of the Sonora Desert, which runs south to the Baja Peninsula in Mexico.

Organic: A technique for growing grapes without using chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides or commercial fertilizers.*

History: In 1931, Calona Vineyards opened as the first commercial winery in the Okanagan.

Brix: A measure of sugar in grapes: one degree Brix equals 10 grams of sugar per litre. Mature grapes are typically 21 to 25 Brix, equating to 11 to 13 percent alchohol after fermentation.*


*Schreiner, John - British Columbia Wine Country, Whitecap Books Ltd., 2003

  
 

THE BASICS
 

These are exciting times for BC wine. Quality has gone through the roof, our wines are selling like hotcakes, and new wineries keep sprouting up around the province. There is always something new to try.

Happily, the same thing is happening with cheese. BC is now blessed with a very impressive array of farm-fresh, often organic artisan cheeses that are every bit as expressive of their origin as our wines. This is very good news for wine lovers. BC wine and cheese is a natural partnership. Be adventuresome – and enjoy!

WINE AND CHEESE CAN BE A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN... OR NOT
 

In BC we have a spectacular range of wine styles, with wines being made from over sixty grape varieties: red wines, white wines, sparkling wines; bone dry wines and intensely sweet wines.

With cheese, there are just as many variables–cheeses can be classified according to type of milk, texture, fat content, method of production, or age. Quite frankly, this makes things a little tricky. Given all the possible stylistic differences, it is not reasonable to expect any one wine to be all things to all cheeses. It’s best to have a method, and proceed with caution. Experiment: in the end, taste is personal, and you never know until you try.

QUICK TIPS
 

Remember that wine and cheese matches can be based on correspondence or contrast. You can achieve balance by pairing like with like (tangy, acidic cheese with a crisp, tart wine); or you can combine contrasting elements (sharp, pungent cheese with rich, sweet wine).

If you want to put together a cheese plate for a wine and cheese party, keep it simple. It is best not to present too many different flavours at once. Try a cheese plate with three styles, such as soft, creamy, and hard. A classic BC version would be fresh goat’s cheese (soft), a soft-rinded brie or camembert type (richer, creamier), and a cheddar (hard).

Now choose an adaptable wine to use – the best choices would be a light-to-medium dry white (BC pinot blanc, pinot gris, or unwooded chardonnay) or a fruity, not-too-heavy red, such as pinot noir or merlot. These wines can easily accompany a range of flavours, but it is still best to avoid very strong or pungent flavours if you are going to mix and match.

FROM WINE TO CHEESE
 

LIGHT WHITES:
Ehrenfelser, bacchus, siegerrebe, riesling, muscat, chenin blanc, chasselas,
auxerrois, unwooded sauvignon blanc and viognier.
Top BC Cheese Picks: Fresh cheese, chevre, soft and semi-soft cheeses.

MEDIUM WHITES:
Pinot blanc, pinot gris, gewürztraminer, semillon and unwooded chardonnay.
Top BC Cheese Picks: Mild cheddar and mild gouda, brie and camembert styles.

RICH WHITES:
Oaked sauvignon blanc, meritage blends, oaked chardonnay and reserve (oaked) pinot gris.
Top BC Cheese Picks: Aged cheddar and aged gouda.

ROSÉ:
Top BC Cheese Picks: Mild chevre or soft sheep’s cheese.

LIGHT REDS:
Unoaked/lightly oaked gamay, pinot noir, merlot and cabernet franc.
Top BC Cheese Picks: Brie/camembert, mild cheddar, mild gouda.

RICH REDS:
Oaked merlot, cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, meritage blends,
syrah/shiraz and zinfandel.
Top BC Cheese Picks: Serious, well-aged gouda and cheddar.

DESSERT WINES:
Late harvest, Icewine and port.
Top BC Cheese Picks: Rich, blue-veined cheeses.

FROM CHEESE TO WINE
 

MILD HARD CHEESES:
Mild cheddar, mild gouda, edam. British styles such as Caerphilly
and Wensleydale.
Top BC Wine Picks: Gamay, merlot, cabernet franc, zweigelt, pinot gris
and unwooded chardonnay.

SHARP HARD CHEESES:
Aged cheddar, aged gouda. Italian styles such as parmesan and asiago.
Top BC Wine Picks: Meritage, syrah/shiraz, zinfandel and marechal
foch old vines.

SOFT, WHITE-RINDED CHEESES:
Brie and camembert.
Top BC Wine Picks: Ehrenfelser, siegerrebe and chasselas.

GOAT’S CHEESE:
Fresh chevre and feta.
Top BC Wine Picks: Sauvignon blanc and rosé.

SHEEP’S CHEESES:
Top BC Wine Picks: Sparkling wine (soft styles); big reds, such as cabernet sauvignon (aged style).

BLUE CHEESES:
Top BC Wine Picks: Late harvest, Icewine and port.

BC ARTISAN CHEESE PRODUCERS
 

Gort’s Gouda, Salmon Arm, B.C. 250-832-4274
Cow’s milk. Classic aged gouda and raw milk maasdaam type cheeses.

Happy Days Goat Dairy, Salmon Arm, B.C. 250-832-0209
Goat’s milk butter, yogurt, and cheese.

Jerseyland Organics, Grand Forks, B.C. 250-442-8112
Organic cow’s milk. Extra-aged cheddar is a specialty, along with other hard cheeses such as asiago and parmesan.

Goat’s Pride Dairy Ltd., Abbotsford, B.C. 604-854-6261
Organic goat’s milk. Feta, chevre, and Blue Capri.

Moonstruck Organic Cheese Inc., Salt Spring Island, B.C. 250-537-4987
Organic Jersey cow’s milk. Ash-ripened camembert, fromage blanc, blue.

Mountain Meadows, Chase, B.C. 250-679-3841
Sheep’s milk. Cream cheese, feta, semi-soft, and brie.

Natural Pastures Cheese Company, Courtenay, B.C. 250-334-4422
Free-range cow’s milk. Brie, camembert, boerenkaas, amsterdammer.

Salt Spring Island Cheese Company, Salt Spring Island, B.C. 250-653-2300
Goat’s milk and sheep’s milk. Renowned for soft goat’s cheese.

Poplar Grove, Penticton, B.C. 250-492-2352
Double-cream camembert, blue. Tiger Blue is a Stilton–style blue; Naramata Bench Blue is a creamy, softer version.

The Farm House Natural Cheeses, Agassiz, B.C. 604-796-8741
Cow’s milk and goat’s milk. Wide range of styles, including orange-rinded Alpine Gold and La Pyramide chevre.

Carmelis Goat Cheese, Kelowna, B.C. 250-954-3931
Goat’s milk feta, rinded, and aged cheeses.
 
Hillary’s Cheese Company, Cowichan Bay, B.C. 250-715-0563
Cow’s milk and goat’s milk. Cheddar, goat’s milk cheddar, and flavoured specialties such as Red Dawn – cow’s milk and Merrydale Cider.

Little Qualicum Cheeseworks, Parksville, B.C. 250-954-3931
Cow’s milk. From fromage frais to feta, raclette, and caerphilly.

The Village Cheese Company, Armstrong, B.C. 1-888-633-8899
Cow’s milk. Traditional cheddar, especially aged versions.

 
© 2006 British Columbia Wine Institute.  All rights reserved.