Here’s the secret nobody tells you: wine and cheese are basically the Buttercup and Westley of the food world. The fat in the cheese coats your tongue, while the acid in the wine cuts right through it like a tiny, delicious sword. It’s a chemical reaction, sure, but it feels like a miracle when a sip of crisp Sauvignon Blanc suddenly makes a lump of goat’s cheese taste like a cloud of happiness.
I remember my first proper London tasting in a little cellar near Borough Market. The host, a bloke with a beard that could house a small family, told us to “be greedy with the cheese”. He was a genius. You’re supposed to take a big, honest bite, not a polite nibble. Let it melt. Then swoop in with the wine.
The Brie and the Bubbles Myth (Smashed)
Everyone thinks they love Brie and Champagne. And you know what? You’re right, you do. It’s a lovely, safe hug of a pairing. But the real fun happens when you go off-piste. Try a stinky, washed-rind cheese—the kind that smells like a gym locker after leg day—with a sweet, honeyed Sauternes. The contrast is so ridiculous, so aggressively good, that you’ll actually giggle.
I once watched a grown man in a tweed jacket close his eyes and whisper “oh my god” after trying a blue cheese with a sticky Pedro Ximénez sherry. He wasn’t a food critic. He was an accountant from Essex. That’s the power of London’s cheese scene.
14 Best Places for Wine Tasting in London to Wet Your Whistle
