We love cheese, so it was only fitting to team up with Barossa Valley Cheese Co to bring you tips to build the ultimate cheese board! We loved catching up with Emily to do some taste testing to find some great wine matches too!
Emily has been at Barossa Valley Cheese Co for more than 10 years, so knows all about cheese – you’re in great hands.
Over to Emily from here!
CHEESE AND WINE PAIRING
There is no better homework than being assigned a cheese and wine pairing project! The girls at Small Victories have a beautiful range of ‘drink now’ wines… which in our opinion are perfect for enjoying with a cheese plate. We like to be able to taste both the cheese and the wine, so lighter styles of wine are perfect for this project.
We have compiled some tips on how to put together a cheese plate, perfect for those afternoon drinks as the sun begins to set and the cool of the night rolls in.
CHEESE BOARD TIP 1
Firstly, cheese should be served at room temperature to allow their flavours to bloom and wine should be served chilled. Depending on what you enjoy, even light reds can be enjoyed slightly chilled.
CHEESE BOARD TIP 2
The key to easy entertaining is to keep it simple – we always start with cheese selection… as, well, cheese is our thing!
Being summer, we would recommend choosing light, fresh styles of cheese plus a hard cheese with a good bitey flavour to add variety to the board.
Our picks for a delicious cheese board are:
1 – A fresh cheese – Vache Curd. This is a light, fresh spreadable cheese that is delicious on chunky bread and paired with seasonal fruits and cured meats. To top it all off, we would pair with a glass of Small Victories Pinot Gris.
2 – A creamy cheese – Barossa Triple Cream. A decadent, rich, creamy Brie style cheese that pairs well with a fruit paste and the Small Victories Rosé. This fresh, fruit driven Rosé complements the sweet, creamy cheese, giving the pairing almost a strawberries and cream combination. Absolute perfection on a summer afternoon!
3 – A bitey cheese with big flavours – enter our very special 4 year old La Dame. Our rare, semi-hard goats milk cheese has been matured to mellow and develop complex characters with a bready, yeasty nose, flaky texture and a savoury, nutty finish. We have chosen the Small Victories Sangiovese to complement this big, flavoured cheese. Our serving tip – try the La Dame on Barossa Bark with a little kimchi on top.
CHEESE BOARD TIP 3
Add some extras!
Crackers, biscuits and nuts or seeds can be added for crunch and are perfect to use as the vehicle for getting the cheese from the board to your mouth.
Choose a fruit paste and as we’ve mentioned above, kimchi or pickles can add another level of flavour.
Fresh fruit is always a great addition to a plate and fills any gaps beautifully.
CHEESE BOARD TIP 4
Add a knife for each cheese, to keep the flavours from cross contaminating.
This board features Barossa Cheese’s Vache Curd, Barossa Triple Cream and 4 year old La Dame along with two types of crackers from Barossa Cheese; Barosssa Bark; crusty roll from Tanunda Bakery; fruit paste from Maggie Beer; Kimchi from Kimchi Club; and prosciutto from Barossa Smokehouse Butchers.
BUILD AND SHARE YOUR CHEESE BOARD!
Thanks so much to Emily for these great tips to build your ultimate cheese board to enjoy with friends.
Look for Barossa Cheese products in your independent grocers Australia wide, or shop the range at barossacheese.com.au.
If you create a fab cheese board, we’d love you to share it with us – tag us @smallvictorieswineco and #celebrateyoursmallvictoriestoday on Instagram or Facebook.
Cheers!
