Whole Foods gives us great ideas for a very cheesy party

If you're looking for something fun, maybe for your holiday party, why not try a cheese party? Kathy from Whole Foods joined us on San Antonio Living to share her favorite combinations.

Cheeses to Pair with Holiday Top 10 Wines…

Red Leaf Canadian aged Cheddar
pair with Skouras Anssa

• a robust, rich, aged cheddar from Quebec
• crumbly, full-bodied texture
• tempers the fruit in the wine, while highlighting the cheddar’s texture and earthiness

Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery Bijou
pair with Simonnet-Febvre Saint-Bris Sauvignon

• an aged goat cheese, sweet and yeasty
• fantastic addition to many recipes
• the wine accentuates the floral and citrus components in the cheese

Herv Mons Camembert
pair with Novellum Chardonnay

• oozy, mushroomy goodness, great vegetal notes
• big beautiful flavors reminiscent of a raw-milk Camembert
• the wine coaxes out nice acidity in the cheese, and the cheese, in turn, takes away some of the wine’s sharpness

Uniekaas Parrano
pair with Roger d’Anoia Cava

• complex nutty notes of parmesan, butter, salt and caramel
• wonderful texture, grates and melts perfectly
• brings out tart green apple flavors in the wine, and then the cheese’s creaminess softens the wine’s fruit

Rogue Creamery Caveman Blue
pair with Grace Lane Riesling

• a rich and complex blue cheese
• sweet and fruity with slight vanilla notes
• sweetness in the wine dissipates, highlighting mushroom and savory flavors in the cheese

P’tit Basque sheep’s milk cheese
pair with Allan Scott Marlborough Pinot Noir

• from the mountainous Basque region of France
• smooth and sweet, creamy texture with a nutty finish
• complex, almost caramelly notes come out when paired with the wine

Seaside Cheddar
pair with Tablao Navarra

• almost delicate English cheddar from a coastal-grazing single herd
• mature, sweet sharpness, tiny crystals of salty crunch
• highlights the cherry notes in the wine, creating a soft delicate finish

Borough Market Cheddar
pair with Santa Julia Innovacin Bonarda-Cabernet

• traditional cloth-bound cheddar, aged 12 months
• quintessentially sharp balanced by nice creaminess
• softens tannins in the wine, pronounces natural woodsy tones in the cheese

Fourme d’Ambert
pair with Les Hauts de Bel Air Merlot Cabernet

• creamy complex blue cheese from France’s Auvergne region
• delicate fruit, subtle smokiness
• spicy notes in the wine are balanced by the tanginess of the cheese

Fromager d’Affinois
pair with H&G Priorat

• a plump double crme delight from the Rhone-Alpes region
• “ultra-filtering,” a French innovation, yields tender silkiness
• cherry flavors in the wine and buttery notes in the cheese are both more pronounced in the pairing

Emmi Le Gruyre Reserve
pair with Mat Kearney Verse & Chorus Napa Valley Red Wine

• hand selected in Switzerland exclusively for Whole Foods Market
• 12-month aged, dense, nutty and rich
• earthiness in the cheese transforms into hints of powdered white chocolate when paired with the wine

Sottocenere Italian Truffle cheese
pair with Cercius Ctes du Rhne

• cow’s milk cheese from Italy
• aged in ash, semi-soft, delicate truffles within the cheese
• the truffle flavors soften, while the wine’s fruit rounds out and lingers