Grilled Cheese and Wine: A Winning Comfort-Food Combo

by Sarah De Heer, Posted Mar 9th 2011 @ 2:00PM

grilled cheese sandwich Photo: Sarah De Heer, AOL

Several weeks ago, I attended a grilled cheese and wine pairing seminar hosted by Laura Werlin, the guru of grilled cheese. You know a person really has a passion about a subject when they've penned two books about it (her newest is Grilled Cheese, Please!).

First, we sat down to four glasses of wine and a cheese plate with six different cheeses (from soft to hard). Instead of digging straight into the sandwiches, Laura had everyone taste the wines, then taste the cheeses to understand the foundation of the sandwiches. All of the cheeses on our plates and in the sandwiches came from Wisconsin and ranged from Gouda to Gorgonzola. One of the most important tips Laura shared with us was about the color of cheese vs. the wine. According to Laura, "The whiter the cheese, the lighter the wine."

Each of the unique creations we tasted came from her two books. Below are three of the six creations we tried, along with the its paired wine.

Dutch Grilled Cheese made with Marieke's Gouda
This sandwich was just full of buttery goodness. The gouda, paired with caramelized onions, cumin and rye bread with caraway was a successful balance of sweet and savory. Sometimes caramelized onions overpower the other ingredients in a dish, they complemented this sandwich because they were combined with Gouda -- a strong, distinctive cheese. The Cotes du Rhote was complex but let all of the flavors of the sandwich come through.
Paired with: Jean Luc Columbo "La Redonne" 2007 Cotes de Rhone (Rhone, France)

The Spaniard (get the recipe here) Carr Valley Cheese Company, Benedictine
This was my favorite sandwich, a combination of benedictine (a sheep, goat and cow milk cheese) and fontina cheeses with piquillo peppers and Serrano ham. Laura spreads a smokey Spanish paprika butter on the outside of the bread to take this grilled cheese one step further. The fruity notes of the bold Central Coast Pinot Noir brought out deep flavors in the Serrano ham, which is less salty and fatty than prosciutto.
Paired with: Wild Horse Pinot Noir 2008 (Central Coast, California)

Garlic Parmesan Cheddar made with Hook's Cheddar
If you love garlic, this sandwhich is for you. Grated Parmesan adds a nutty note, while the cheddar is smooth and sharp. But the real star of the sandwich was the spicy bite of freshly chopped garlic. Wow. If you make this for a loved one, I suggest having one, too -- that way you'll cancel each other out! The dark, rich Syrah was assertive enough to stand up to these strong flavors.
Paired with: Betts & Scholl Syrah 2006 (California)

More of Laura's Tips:
1. Grate the cheese (it melts easier)
2. Use a thick layer of cheese and a thin layer of bread
3. Put the spread on the bread, not in the pan
4. Flatten the sandwich slightly
5. Cook low and slow

Have you ever paired your grilled cheese with wine? What was your creation and wine of choosing? Tell us in the comments.

Learn how to build a better grilled cheese at KitchenDaily.com.

Click here to purchase your own copy of Grilled Cheese, Please!

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Tags: grilled cheese, sandwich, wine

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-09-2011 @4:04PM Anne said... I love a grilled cheese sandwich with some good potato chips and a flute of champagne (or any other sparking wine).
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3-09-2011 @8:05PM amarie said... I never thought of having wine with grilled cheese. But after reading it here....it made reminded me that wine and cheese make a great pair. So why not grilled cheese with wine. I'll have to try that. Thanks.
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3-09-2011 @8:29PM lynnekz said... Here's my favorite grilled cheese hint. Instead of spreading the outside of the sandwich with butter before you grill it, spread it with mayo (the real stuff -- not low-fat or olive oil or any of the other variants). It gets much crispier and toasts up golden just like grilled cheese always looks in pictures in magazines.
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3-09-2011 @9:00PM Babs said... I am quite full right now having just finished a harty dinner so the thought of food is doing nothing for me!! But....These sandwiches paired with the wine sounds quite interesting!
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3-09-2011 @11:12PM Rosey said... All i can say is YUM...
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3-10-2011 @12:45AM Marshall said... I am interested to know where open faced one-slice bread, grill cheese sandwiches come from?
which country do they originate from?
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3-13-2011 @6:12PM jlusmom said... It sounds like a sandwich my mom made for us when we were small called "welsh rabbit".She is from South Wales England, I have seen several ways of making it, but this sounds like the way she made it.

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3-10-2011 @5:11AM pete said... I can't believe my favorite grill cheese sandwich is never mentioned.....peanut butter &
grilled cheese!
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3-12-2011 @6:32PM Mimi said... I make a wicked grilled cheese sandwich with hearty dense whole grain bread [I often get mine from Costco] hand sliced, not too thin. For the filling, I layer on sharp two year old cheddar, about a quarter inch thick and a thin smear of grainy country mustard. Sometimes I add some very very thin sliced sweet onion, such as Vidalia.
On the outside of each side of the bread, I spread a thin layer of real butter or virgin olive oil. I grill this sandwich in my preheated panini press, which leaves nice brown lines, but you can toast it in a hot skillet or stovetop grill pan and weigh it down with something heavyish, like a smaller cast iron skillet or another pan with something in it. Grill until golden brown on both sides [turn once if you don't have a panini grill[ and the cheese just begins to ooze out the sides. Cut in half... you want to see the melted cheese peak out. I swear, this simple sandwich is as good as any gourmet extravagance, if you use the right cheese and bread as I suggest.

I often serve this with a creamy tomato soup... it's the perfect comfort meal, and I'm inspired to have a nice glass of red wine with it instead of beer, which is also great.
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3-12-2011 @9:51PM Bill said... The best grilled cheese sandwich I ever made was french bread and bree.
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3-12-2011 @7:34PM wfb251 said... brie
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3-12-2011 @8:41PM sharon said... By shear luck, one of my favorite grilled cheese sandwiches was made on a black pepper/ gorganzola bread from costco, topped with brie, pepper jack and a bit of a white mexican cheese. It's pronounced,"awaca", not spelled that way though. Butter the bread and grill it low and slow. Wow! It was fantastic. Just happened to be the cheeses in my frig at the time. Who knows what creation will come next?!

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3-12-2011 @8:45PM missylassiterm said... Grilled Cheese sandwiches are great anytime, w/anything, for any occassion. I do have to laugh as my college-age youngest son absolutely Loves grilled cheese sandwiches. I(I just shared the grilled cheese article/recipes via email if he checks it...?). I recently came across a paper he was required to write somewhere in early high school - he carefully outlined how he played hooky and I made him 1 or 2 grill cheese sandwiches with cream of tomato soup while watching the black and white old version of "King Kong". He thought I really believed he was sick but it was fun for both of us, most of the time.... Grilled Cheese Makes Memories!!
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