Pair Red Wine With Select Cheeses

1. Start out by picking your favorite wine. If you're having a party or eating out with lots of friends, select a few different bottles of wine and a wide variety of cheeses.

2. Order a bottle of Merlot. Merlot is a comparatively fruity red wine and is less rich than other varietals. Because of the mild flavor of this wine, you can either pair it with a complementary mild cheese, like Danish Havarti or Gouda, or balance it out with a very sharp provolone.

3. Pick up a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet is a richer wine than Merlot and goes wonderfully with stronger cheeses. Selecting Cabernet Sauvignon gives you and your friends a chance to taste some of the finest and most exotic cheeses available. Blue Stilton cheese is an ideal pairing, as is the world-famous Parmigiano Reggiano.

4. Select some Pinot Noir to accompany a creamy blue cheese or a goat cheese. The spicy wine and tangy cheeses complement each other beautifully.

Serve Red Wine and Cheese

1. Serve red wine just below room temperature. Chilled red wine does not typically go with most cheeses. Ideally, the cheese should also be served at room temperature, so take it out of the refrigerator an hour or so before serving it.

2. Allow your wine to breath, and serve it in red wine glasses with short stems and large bowls.

3. Serve a variety of cheeses and provide plenty of knives and forks. Each guest should have her own small plate. You also need to have a large quantity of wine glasses on hand if you're serving more than one red wine. You don't want your guests mixing their wines, so you'll have to either rinse their glasses or provide fresh ones.