26 pairings
Furmint
Roquefort with walnuts with Royal Tokaji Mézes Mály Aszú 6 Puttonyos: Blue cheese salt and funk find a counterpoint in the Aszú's dried-fruit sweetness.
The short answer
Across 237 blue cheese pairings on 236 of our bottle pages, the grapes our editors pour most often are Furmint (26), Hárslevelű (25), Touriga Nacional (24) and Touriga Franca (22). For example, Royal Tokaji Mézes Mály Aszú 6 Puttonyos from Tokaj with roquefort with walnuts: Blue cheese salt and funk find a counterpoint in the Aszú's dried-fruit sweetness.
By style: fortified 52, red 27, white 25, sparkling 1 of the 237 pairings.
The wines that turn up most: Tokaj, DOC Porto, DO Jerez-Xérès-Sherry, PDO Vinsanto, Recioto della Valpolicella Classico, Rheingau Pradikatswein.
The best grapes for blue cheese
25 pairings
Hárslevelű
Blue cheese and honeycomb with Royal Tokaji Nyulászó Aszú 6 Puttonyos: Honey and floral notes bridge into the cheese's savoury complexity.
24 pairings
Touriga Nacional
Aged Stilton with Quinta do Noval Nacional: Only the greatest blue cheese matches its intensity.
22 pairings
Touriga Franca
Stilton and walnuts with Taylor's Vintage Port: Classic Vintage Port and blue cheese: the salty crystalline cheese is cut by the wine's sweet black-fruit core.
21 pairings
Tempranillo
Stilton with Dow's Vintage Port: Drier style cut by salty blue cheese.
19 pairings
Pedro Ximenez
Gorgonzola Piccante with La Bota de Pedro Ximénez: Extreme sweetness and viscosity cut through the most pungent blue cheeses.
18 pairings
Riesling
Roquefort with Kiedricher Graefenberg Riesling Eiswein: Crystalline botrytis-free sweetness and high acid tame the salty blue cheese.
18 pairings
Corvina
Gorgonzola with Masi Campolongo di Torbe Amarone della Valpolicella Classico: Masi says the touch of sweetness some vintages show pairs excellently with gorgonzola.
Bottles to pour with blue cheese
The best-rated pairings, one per producer and no more than two from any one region, so the list travels.
Aged Roquefort
Mature blue cheese salt meets intense botrytis sweetness; spice and honey echo umami.
Aged Stilton
Only the greatest blue cheese matches its intensity.
Roquefort with walnuts
Salty, pungent blue cheese is transformed by the wine's honey and apricot character; sweetness tempers sharpness.
Aged Gorgonzola
The wine's concentrated sweetness and exotic spices create a powerful contrast with the pungent blue cheese.
Aged Gorgonzola naturale
The wine's intense sweetness and mineral depth create a powerful contrast with pungent Gorgonzola.
Blue cheese
High acidity and sweetness balance blue cheese salt.
Blue cheese with honey
Producer recommends blue cheese; the wine's aromatic intensity and faint sweetness balance the funk.
Gorgonzola
Masi says the touch of sweetness some vintages show pairs excellently with gorgonzola.
Masi Campolongo di Torbe Amarone della Valpolicella Classico →
Gorgonzola dolce
Sweet Recioto bridges the creamy saltiness of Gorgonzola beautifully.
Gorgonzola Piccante
Extreme sweetness and viscosity cut through the most pungent blue cheeses.
Mature Stilton
Noble rot dessert wine and blue cheese is a classic high-contrast pairing.
Roquefort
Sweet wine balances the salty blue.
Taste the pairing: food and wine in Porto and the Douro Valley
Food and wine tastings you can book in Douro Valley, one of the regions whose bottles our editors pour with blue cheese.
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pairings by region
- Douro Valley: 25 pairings, Douro Valley food and wine pairing
- Tokaj: 25 pairings, Tokaj food and wine pairing
- Jerez & Sherry: 22 pairings, Jerez & Sherry food and wine pairing
- Valpolicella: 20 pairings, Valpolicella food and wine pairing
- Languedoc: 13 pairings, Languedoc food and wine pairing
- Loire Valley: 13 pairings, Loire Valley food and wine pairing
- Santorini: 13 pairings, Santorini food and wine pairing
- Alto Adige: 9 pairings, Alto Adige food and wine pairing
- Jura: 8 pairings, Jura food and wine pairing
- Valais: 8 pairings, Valais food and wine pairing
- Rheingau: 7 pairings, Rheingau food and wine pairing
- Friuli-Venezia Giulia: 6 pairings, Friuli-Venezia Giulia food and wine pairing
Wine with blue cheese, FAQ
What wine goes with blue cheese?
Across 237 blue cheese pairings on 236 of our bottle pages, the grapes our editors pour most often are Furmint (26), Hárslevelű (25), Touriga Nacional (24) and Touriga Franca (22). For example, Royal Tokaji Mézes Mály Aszú 6 Puttonyos from Tokaj with roquefort with walnuts: Blue cheese salt and funk find a counterpoint in the Aszú's dried-fruit sweetness.
Red or white wine with blue cheese?
Most often fortified: of the 105 blue cheese pairings, the split by style is fortified 50%, red 26%, white 24% and sparkling 1%. The bottles below show which of each work and why.
Which wine regions are best with blue cheese?
The regions with the most blue cheese pairings on our bottle pages are Douro Valley, Tokaj and Jerez & Sherry.