How to organize a wine and cheese party?

Editor’s note: everything here is a suggestion and not a rule. There are no rules when it comes to a tasting, as the best choices are the ones that make you happy.
Everyone knows you like cheese. Now is the time to share with your friends and put on a wine and cheese tasting party worthy of your name. Our oh-so-nice writers here at Le Cheese Geek have taken care of all the hard work. To wow the crowd you’ll need:

1. to make a presentable, quality cheese platter
2. to choose drinks, specifically wines that go well with your cheeses,
3. and little “bonuses”

Step 1: Get informed

Call your friends and ask if they have any preferences with regards to what will be on the platter. And also the
cheeses they don’t want on the platter. If you don’t get a detailed response, what do they like in general: goat cheese? blue cheese? creamy cheese?

Step 2: Choose your cheeses

Whether you get three, five or ten cheeses, one thing to keep in mind is diversity. The easiest thing to do is to choose cheeses from the different families of cheese because each will have its own distinct textures and flavors. It’s important to choose cheeses made from different kinds of milk: cow, goat, sheep…
You can also choose cheeses with different shapes and sizes to give the platter body, with different colors to make it aesthetically pleasing, or better yet play with different regional origins.

Step 3: Amount of cheese for your platter

For a wine and cheese tasting evening, about nine ounces per person will keep everyone happy, and with a little luck there will be some left over for breakfast! If you’re adding cold cut meats, adjust the amount of cheese accordingly to about five ounces. For drinks, we’ll say that one bottle is enough for three people, but you know better than we do how much you drink!

Step 4: Storing and serving cheese

We’re currently working on an article that talks about storing and serving cheese. Ideally, you want to take your cheeses out of the fridge and put them on the platter about one hour before the tasting, with the exception of hard cheeses and blue cheeses that can be taken out ten minutes beforehand.

Step 5: Garnishing your cheese platter

Articles on cheese and fruit pairings and cheese and bread pairings are on their way. But, in a nutshell, it’s better to opt for refreshing, juicy fruits that neutralize the palate between two cheeses. Try, for example, apples, pears and grapes.
As for the bread: a traditional baguette always gets the job done. You can also add rustic multigrain bread or a bread with dried fruit and nuts for more salty cheeses.