Less work than a dinner party but just as much fun, a cheese and wine party is a fabulous way to entertain friends. All you need is a theme, plenty of glasses and a few notes to get the discussion going. We’ve chosen a French theme here to make the most of our special Spring Showcase wines and service counter cheeses. But other alternatives could include favourite grape varieties, New World wines – or even a selection of sparkling whites.
It’s worth preparing a few simple things in advance. For instance, make sure any white or rosé wines are chilled for at least three hours in advance and open any red wines two hours ahead. Welcome everyone with a glass of sparkling wine – it helps people relax, and it's also the lightest of the wines. After that, depending on your theme, the tasting should move onto white wines, then to reds and finish with the more powerful fortified wines.
When it comes to pouring, ensure you have enough to go round! It may be wise to give just one person the job of pouring. And remember the width of the glass is deceiving, so be judicious. Choose decent-size glasses and fill until quarter full. Finally, the tasting itself. There’s so much mystique around the subject of wine tasting, you could be forgiven for thinking you have to be a connoisseur just to have a try. Not true. Just follow our four simple stages below.
Follow these four simple stages
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1. First
Take a look at the wine to check that it's clear and bright. The intensity and depth of colour will also give you a clue to its strength, although wines do alter with age – whites become darker and reds tend to fade.
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2. Then
Twirl the wine in the glass, stick your nose in and sniff. This will tell you whether or not the wine is faulty and reveal its character. If you’re tasting a chardonnay, for example, this step will reveal whether it tastes of citrus or tropical fruit.
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3. Next
Take a sip, hold it in your mouth for a moment and swallow. This will tell you more about the texture or 'mouthfeel' of the wine – whether it's sharp or smooth – than what we think of as the flavour. If you want to maximise this experience, suck air over your tongue as you hold the wine in your mouth. You will make some very professional-sounding slurping noises, and it is this technique that helps to release the wine's flavours and aromas.
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4. Finally
Remember to take note of any aftertaste. Good wines have a flavour that lingers on and on, so be sure to enjoy it before moving on to the next mouthful.
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Don't forget...
Ice and ice buckets – to keep the white wine or champagne cool
Glasses – ideally, you'll need fresh glasses for each wine. Don't forget you can borrow wine glasses for your evening free of charge from Waitrose
Pads and pens – to take tasting notes
Spittoons – your friends may not want to drink too much
... and what about the cheese?
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Portion size
Since cheese is rich stuff, reckon on a maximum of 100g (4oz) per person. Ask the cheese specialist at the service counter for advice if you’re in any doubt.
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A little learning
Consider putting a little card on each plate with the names of the cheeses and where they come from.
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A little more learning
Tell guests a bit about the wine when you pour the first glass, then tell them which cheese(s) it might go particularly well with.
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Play it safe
Contrary to popular belief, refrigerating cheese doesn’t ‘ruin the taste’. Remove the cheese from the fridge just a few minutes before you serve it.
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Pace the serving
Don’t put all the cheese out at once. After 30 minutes or so in a warm room, it will not be at its best. Put out smallish pieces to start with, replacing them as needed from fresh supplies in the fridge.
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Add crunch to your munch
A contrast of textures makes cheese more enjoyable to eat. Sliced red peppers, celery, and cucumber add variety and refresh the palate. Grapes, apples and pears are the best fruity choices.
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The starchy options
Giving a choice of water biscuits and oat biscuits is ideal. If you want bread, choose a dense, crusty loaf. Crispbread is also popular, but not the type with sesame seeds or other flavourings.
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Don’t forget
The water Serving water as well as wine isn’t just sensible for guests who will be driving home. Water also helps to cleanse the palate, especially a lightly fizzy water such as Waitrose Scottish Sparkling Mineral Water.
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The party’s over...
And some cheese remains uneaten. As long as it hasn’t been sitting out too long, tightly wrap in foil and freeze. The texture will be impaired, so frozen cheese is best for cooking. Leftover bread can be used to make breadcrumbs or croutons, vegetables can go into a soup.
Your tasting
To celebrate our Spring French Showcase, we’ve chosen six of our favourite French wines and matched them with six of our most delicious cheeses. Use these notes to describe each pairing as you serve the wines and cheeses.
Print tasting notes
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Try Château La Caussade 2004 Saint-Croix-du-Mont An elegant, rich, sweet wine with a fresh, flowery taste and a delicate bouquet. With Revelation Roquefort – with its rich, spicy tang of blue, this smooth, almost spreadable, cheese is a milder Roquefort.
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Try Waitrose Blanc de Noirs NV Champagne – made only from Pinot Noir, our house champagne has ripe fruit flavours and a crisp, biscuity character that comes from the long lees ageing. With Gratte Paille – creamy-sweet with a rich, buttery flavour, the secret ingredient in this wonderful table cheese is fresh cream.
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Try Apremont, Les Rocailles, Pierre Boniface 2007, Vin de Savoie – pale lemon in colour and with a bouquet of citrus and peach, this white is round and fruity on the palate. With Le Cret Gruyère AOC – full of sweet caramel notes and a rich nuttiness, this Swiss gruyère is aged in cool, earthy caves.
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Try Les Nivières 2005 Saumur – this medium-bodied red is a deliciously supple and approachable Cabernet Franc from the sand and limestone vineyards of the Loire. With French Mimolette (Boule de Lille) – a fresh and fruity hard cheese with a delicious tang of hazelnuts that deepens and intensifies as it ripens.
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Try Château Le Pin 2006 – an open, rounded Bordeaux with surprising depth and lovely, juicy plum and berry fruit flavours. With Organic Comté, a smooth, supple, handsome devil of a cheese that tastes fruity in summer and more nutty in winter.
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Try Quincy Sauvignon Blanc 2006 Domaine de la Pierre Qui Danse – vibrant and incisive, the 2006 vintage is full of lovely, crisp gooseberry, grapefruit and whitecurrant flavours with a clean, refreshing finish. With Ste-Maure de Touraine – with a walnut aroma and salty, nutty taste, this unpasteurised goat’s milk cheese is rich and smooth.