By Victoria Brown: There is a notion that cheese and wine is a match made in heaven, but it is not as simple as throwing any red wine together with whatever cheese you happen to be serving.   There are important factors to consider, such as the maturity of both the cheese and the wine, the texture of the cheese, how strong or full-bodied the wine is, whether the cheeses can hold their own next to the wine, and visa versa.

Tina Messina, Co-Owner of The Wine ConneXtion in North Andover, Ma, is an expert in finding the perfect pairing of wine and cheese. In this case, she has found three cheeses to go with the Delas Cotes du Rhone Saint-Esprit (France 2009) – a classic brie, an aged, hard goat’s cheese and a mild, soft fontina. As Messina explains about these cheeses, “You don’t really want to get into the fuller bodies because these cheeses would not support a heavy cabernet or a more full-bodied wine.”

Click here to read the full article and see the video from the Newburyport News.