The Ultimate Cheese And Charcuterie Pairings For Malbec

You've just cracked open a beautiful bottle of malbec and you're wondering what to serve alongside it. We spoke to John Montez, the training and curriculum manager at Murray's Cheese, for tips on pairing such an alluring red with an equalling-appealing charcuterie spread. "Similar in boldness to cabernet sauvignon, malbec is known to have a gentler structure," Montez instructs. "With lower tannins and often only spending a few months in oak, this is a wine where the fruits really shine." Such clear tasting notes can offer a directional compass as you head out to the store in search of ingredients you can use to create an impressive charcuterie board. 

According to Montez, malbec is an ideal match with sweeter and fruity-aged cheddars, like Murray's Stockinghall or Milton Creamery Flory's Truckle. Aged for one year, Murray's Stockinghall Cheddar has collected accolades from the American Cheese Society, delighting taste-testers with rich flavors of bacon, sour cream, and pineapple. Flory's Truckle is a comparably unique cheese made from cow's milk and aged in lard-coated cloth wrappings. The texture is crumbly, if not a bit crunchy, and the flavor is meaty, sweet, and salty. Subtle notes of grass and a sharp, pepper-like aroma can be picked up by cheese enthusiasts. But you don't need to be any connoisseur to enjoy these bites, for if bacon somehow reimagined itself as cheese, Flory's Truckle would be it.  

If choosing such bold cheeses sounds surprising, follow John Montez's lead. Malbecs from Argentina — where the majority of bottles are produced — tend to offer tasting profiles filled with notes of ripe red and black fruits, largely because small malbec grapes mature well in the sunny, high-altitude climate of Mendoza. "This is another example of a like-with-like approach where the fruitiness of both the cheese and the wine enhance each other," he explains. While Montez's cheese recommendations play well when enjoyed between generous sips of malbec, his recommended meat pairings are also formidable.

"I love to pair wines with ripe fruit aromas with highly savory cured meats," Montez says. "One of my favorites is Jamon Serrano." He explains that this well-respected Spanish cured ham is drier than prosciutto and offers noticeable flavors of walnuts and pecans. "This is an example of another approach to pairing," he offers. Opposite tastes can often be complementary, and the fruitiness of a malbec combined with this preserved ham's nutty flavors create a balanced gastronomic experience. With Montez's food-pairing guidance in mind, your next wine night is in for a major upgrade.