How To Build The Perfect Cheese Board To Pair With Sauvignon Blanc

Wine and cheese make for an elegant beginning to any cocktail or dinner party, and in considering what's the best wine and cheese pairing, the type of cheese shares equal importance with the wine being served. Chardonnay is the most popular white wine, but recently, sauvignon blanc has been a close second on its tail. We asked John Montez, Training and Curriculum Manager at Murray's Cheeses for his expert opinion about which cheese pairs the best with sauvignon blanc. 

"The old-world styles of sauvignon blanc tend to emphasize the minerality of the wine, while new-world styles emphasize the tangy citrus notes," Montez told Tasting Table. "Either way, the traditional pairing for this wine is goat cheese, which works nicely with either style." He also emphasized that pairing goat cheese with sauvignon blanc is extremely specific to the region, climate, and soil where the grapes for the wine are grown. 

Sauvignon blanc originally hails from the Loire Valley, in central France, where the ancient Romans established vineyards. Sancerre is a popular and traditional appellation of this region, and it's known for a low sugar content and dry profile. The Loire Valley has a thriving tradition of distinct-looking goat cheeses. "Here you will find cheeses like Valencay, Selles-Sur-Cher, and Sainte-Maure," Montez explained. "They each have a different shape and are coated with vegetable ash on the outside." These France-specific cheeses are tricky to find in the U.S., but they are available at top cheese shops like Murray's.

John Montez calls the pairing of Loire Valley goat cheeses and sauvignon blanc "iconic," but he also recommends "soft goat cheeses [which] also play very nicely with the ripe citrus notes of the new-world-style sauvignon blancs" that are primarily made in California, New Zealand, and South Africa. The new-world goat cheeses that Montez recommends are Blakesville Creamery Shabby Shoe or Cypress Grove Humboldt Fog. But you don't have to pair just goat cheese with sauvignon blanc because, as Montez noted, tinned fish "is starting to make its way on to charcuteries boards, and I cannot get enough of it!" You may not know some interesting facts about tinned fish, but you'll find a whole world of piscine delights other than tuna fish in a can these days. In fact, there are many upscale canned seafood brands you might consider serving with sauvignon blanc and goat cheese. 

Montez's go-to tinned fish is Spanish conserva, which are fish and seafood caught and canned in Spain and Portugal, like mackerel, clams, squid, and mussels. Montez suggests serving conserva "with a side of green olives, [which] are the perfect salty and briny contrast to both new- and old-world sauvignon blancs." You can build a charcuterie board to suit your tastes and style, and most have several types of cured meat. But by focusing on Montez's tips for serving goat cheese and/or conserva with sauvignon blanc, it will be a new and exciting gustatory experience.