What cheese goes with Margaux?

I usually like to pair my cheese with white wines, mostly dry. I’ll pair blue cheese with sweet white wines.

But, wine and food pairing is very subjective. And some like to pair red wine with cheese. Now let’s see what cheese goes best with Margaux wine.

What kind of wine is Margaux?

Margaux is the southernmost AOC, covered by the Garonne river gravel. It is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot mostly. Sometimes Petit Verdot, Malbec and Carmenère can complete the blend but in very small proportions.

With its warmer climate, the Cabernet Sauvignon ripens fully so the wines will feel silky, velvety in the mouth. Merlot is usually very present in the blends too so you’ll often find fresh red fruit aromas along with the usual Cabernet Sauvignon aromas. These are very powerful wines.

Thus, young wines from Margaux will present aromas of cassis, blackberry, black cherry, liquorice, vanilla, coffee bean, spices… When aging, these aromas will become tobacco leaf, truffle, cigar, leather, spices, wet soil…

What to look out when pairing wine and food

First let’s not forget that each of us has a different sensitivity to flavors and aromatic components. The same level of bitterness, for example, can be perceived much more strongly by one person than by another. This is not just a personal preference, because some like strong reactions and others don’t. These sensitivity thresholds are all different, as are individual preferences.

The “perfect” agreement for one person will therefore be banal, even unpleasant for another. Food and wine pairings must therefore take into account both personal preferences and sensitivities.

Foods include two components that tend to make wines “harder” (more astringent and bitter, more acidic, less sweet and less fruity), namely sweetness and umami. Conversely, two components tend to make wines “more supple” (less astringent and bitter, less acidic, sweeter and more fruity), namely saltiness and acidity.

ANECDOTE : To taste umami, simply compare the taste of a raw button mushroom to that of the same mushroom microwaved for 30 seconds, the umami being significantly enhanced by cooking.

In general, foods influence the taste of a wine more than the other way around, and in particular they are more likely to have a negative effect.

What cheese goes with Margaux?

So now that you know what a Margaux wine tastes like, you want to pair it with the right cheese.

With its full body and concentrated aromas, you will want to have a flavour-concentrated cheese too. This density and concentration is more often found in old cheese.

With the tannins in a Margaux wine, you would prefer a hard cheese.

Some examples of cheese to pair with Margaux wines are : old cheddar, farmhouse cheese or comté even.

ANECDOTE : By the way, if you’re interested in tasting some Margaux wines, I have selected an 80€-tour where you can taste several Margaux wines (including a Premier Cru and Cru Bourgeois), where transportation and guide is included. Check my post on all the Bordeaux tours I’ve selected!

What would you pair your Margaux wine with?