This article is graciously provided by Inniskillin, one of the world's premier wineries, located in Niagara-On-The-Lake, Canada. We encourage you to try Inniskillin wines with these suggestions.  If Inniskillin wines are unavailable, the principles and pairings can be more generically applied with other brands.

Wine and Cheese are said to be the purest and most romantic link between humans and the earth. Uniquely, every style of wine and cheese maintains it’s own flavor, texture and other inherent characteristics. They certainly do share much common ground: Both date back to ancient times (Wine 10,000 years - Cheese 4,000 years) They both are a product of fermentation, most maintain quality standards or appellations Both are a reflection of their terroir, and vary from the style in which they are produced

At Inniskillin we recognize these perplexities and feel simplicity for our consumers is paramount. So let’s demystify, and begin our pairings!

Helpful guidelines to follow:

• Note there will always be exceptions, so experiment
• The harder the cheese the higher degree of tannin a wine can have
• Creamy cheeses require a wine with higher acidity
• The whiter and fresher the cheese, the crisper and fruitier the wine
• Heavy rich cheeses will partner with light reds and Chardonnay
• Strong veined cheeses usually demand a sweeter wine
• Soft cheeses with bloomy white or red dotted rind, full bodied whites, younger reds, lower tannins
• Orange-red rind soft cheeses, full-bodied reds with lower tannins, powerful whites
• Semi-soft cheeses with a pink-gray rind, strong powerful whites, mature whites