The short answer: if you want one bottle for the whole board, choose a 10-year-old Tawny Port. If you want to match each cheese, follow the simple rules below.
Why Tawny works with almost everything
Most cheeses are salty and rich. Salt loves sweetness, which is why cheese and jam work so well. Tawny Port is sweet but not cloying, with flavours of caramel, walnut and dried orange. It flatters hard cheeses, blue cheeses and most of what lies between.
Our bottle
Niepoort 10 Years Old Tawny Port (about €36). Niepoort has been a family Port house since 1842. Ten years in old casks give it apricot, caramel and nutty notes. Once opened, it keeps for weeks.
Match each cheese
- Fresh goat’s cheese: Sancerre or another Loire Sauvignon Blanc.
- Brie and Camembert: Champagne, or a light red like Beaujolais.
- Comté, Gruyère and aged Gouda: a dry Jura white, an aged Chardonnay or a Tawny.
- Parmesan: Lambrusco or a sparkling wine.
- Roquefort and other blues: Sauternes or another sweet wine.
- Washed-rind cheeses like Munster: Alsace Gewürztraminer.
Watch out for
Big, tannic reds with soft and blue cheeses. The fat and salt make the tannin taste bitter and metallic. Red wine works best with hard, aged cheeses.
Serve it right
Take the cheese out of the fridge an hour before serving. Tawny Port is best slightly cool, around 14–16 °C, in a small wine glass.
Try another dish in the pairing finder → · See all twenty bottles →
Photo: Pixabay
Prices were checked in October 2026 and can change. Please drink responsibly. L’abus d’alcool est dangereux pour la santé, à consommer avec modération.