Tuscan Wine and Italian Cheese Pairing: Which Cheese Suits Each Wine?

Cheese age sets most of the answer. The three guides behind these pairings send young, fresh cheese to light wines and aged cheese to the structured Sangiovese reds, although each describes the logic differently.

Food and wine educator Adam Centamore's rule of thumb, from a July 2024 Vino Travels interview, is to match the characteristics of the wine and the cheese, so a powerful wine gets a cheese with power to match. Gourmetaly's Italian cheese and wine guide starts instead from the cheese and its texture.

The third is Cheese.com's guide to Tuscan wines, which Cheese.com labels a sponsored article.

Which Cheese Goes with Which Tuscan Wine?

Fresh cheese goes with Vernaccia and the oldest cheeses with Brunello, and the table gives each pick for the cheeses covered here with the guide that names it.

Parmigiano Reggiano appears against four wines, from Vernaccia to Brunello, so the cheese's age matters more than its name. Gourmetaly ties the wine to months of ageing, moving Parmigiano from the lightest Tuscan wine to the heaviest across 12, 24 and 36 months, so the age on the wedge you buy is the figure to match.

Cheese.com lists Pecorino Toscano against both Rosso Toscana and Brunello. Read beside Gourmetaly's age bands, those two entries may describe different ages of the same cheese.

Beyond the cheeses in the table, Gourmetaly also pairs Caciocavallo, young Castelmagno and Pecorino Sardo with Chianti Classico or Brunello.

How Heavy Is Each Tuscan Wine, and What Does That Mean for Cheese?

The wines in the table sit at different weights, and the weight is what the cheese has to answer. Wine Folly describes Sangiovese as bone-dry, with medium-full body, medium-high tannin and medium-high acidity at 13.5 to 15% alcohol.

Vernaccia di San Gimignano sits at the other end of the range. Wine Folly lists it as dry and medium-light in body, with no tannin, medium-high acidity and 11.5 to 13.5% alcohol.

Within Sangiovese, the producer consortia set minimum rules for grapes and for time spent maturing before sale.

These figures are floors, so when you see Riserva or Gran Selezione on a label, it promises more time before release and says nothing about how heavy the bottle tastes.

Centamore makes the weight point from the glass: stepping up from Chianti Classico to Brunello brings "more sophisticated flavors and richer mouthfeel", which he says suits the heavier weight of sheep's-milk pecorino.

On the cheese side, Gourmetaly starts from texture, names the fat and compactness of the paste as the most important traits, and adds succulence, the salivation that chewing causes.

The same guide calls fresh cheeses lightly seasoned, fatty and leaning toward the sweetness of milk. For buffalo mozzarella it suggests sparkling wine, rosé or a medium-bodied red, and not the heaviest reds.

What Is Pecorino Toscano?

Pecorino Toscano DOP is made only from whole sheep's milk, and its specification allows two types: a soft one matured at least 20 days and a semi-hard one matured at least 4 months. It is sold as a table cheese or a grating cheese.

The name does not confine it to Tuscany. The milk may come from all of Tuscany, from listed communes in the province of Viterbo in Lazio, and from Allerona and Castiglione del Lago in Umbria.

The rind is yellow in tones up to deep yellow, and the specification notes that its colour can depend on treatments the cheese received.

The milk may be raw or heat-treated up to pasteurisation, so if the milk matters to you, read it on the label of the cheese you buy. Fat must be at least 40% of the dry matter, and salting is done dry or in 17 to 19% brine, with the older type staying in salt longer, as the table shows.

Pecorino Romano is a different cheese, so check which pecorino the label names. Cheese.com calls Pecorino Romano sharp and salty, and it describes Pecorino Toscano as slightly mild, creamy and nutty.

Gourmetaly asks for a soft red with Pecorino Romano and names Rosso di Montalcino first. That is a lighter wine than the Brunello it gives to aged Tuscan pecorino.

Centamore notes that "pecorino" roughly means "of sheep" and covers a whole family of cheeses, so the label matters. Pecorino di Pienza Rosso is rubbed with tomato paste as it ages and Morchiato with olive must, two similar young cheeses that finish differently.

Which Wine Goes with Fresh and Aged Pecorino Toscano?

Gourmetaly splits Tuscan pecorino by age. Fresh pecorino takes fresh, medium-bodied white and red wines, with Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Refosco dal peduncolo rosso and Dolcetto d'Alba as its examples, while aged Tuscan pecorino takes red wines of great body and complexity, named as Barolo, Brunello, Chianti and Amarone.

The guide's general rules add a third answer: semi-hard cheeses such as Tuscan pecorino go with medium-bodied white wines. The three answers read best as a ladder of age and weight, with lighter wines for younger cheese and reds of great body for old.

Cheese.com's two picks for Pecorino Toscano are both red: Rosso Toscana for the wine's fruity and sometimes spicy notes, and Brunello di Montalcino for its fruitiness.

Centamore goes furthest into age. He pairs Pecorino Gran Riserva with an aged Chianti Classico or a Brunello di Montalcino, and says extensive ageing gives a drier texture that emphasises the savoury flavours.

For pecorino in general he prefers a medium or full-bodied white, such as a wine made from the Pecorino grape or a northern Chardonnay, or reds from Sangiovese and Nebbiolo. As the cheese ages he raises the wine's body.

What Cheese Goes with Chianti Classico?

Parmigiano Reggiano is the cheese Cheese.com and Gourmetaly both put beside Chianti. Cheese.com says its nutty, savoury flavour complements the wine's acidity and fruit, and Gourmetaly specifies 24 months of ageing for Chianti Classico.

If you would rather follow the cheese's makers, the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium's own pairings run from sparkling wines and Lambrusco at over 12 months, to Pinot Noir, Tempranillo and Malbec among others at over 24 months, and Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Barbera at over 40 months.

On the pecorino side, Cheese.com pairs Pecorino Romano with Chianti because the wine's acidity helps balance the cheese's robust flavour. Centamore describes Chianti Classico as having just the right amount of development and complexity to handle the intensity of an aged pecorino.

Cheese.com and Centamore describe the wine in similar terms: Cheese.com lists bright acidity, red fruit, cherry, plum and herbal and earthy notes, and Centamore lists tart cherry, red plum, herbs and tobacco.

If you are buying for Centamore's "aged Chianti Classico", our reading of the consortium's tiers is a Riserva or a Gran Selezione, the two with the longer minimums in the table above.

What Cheese Goes with Brunello di Montalcino?

Brunello gets the heaviest cheeses of any wine in the table. Gourmetaly puts Parmigiano Reggiano aged 36 months and its long-aged, intensely aromatic cheeses beside it.

Cheese.com's two picks are Pecorino Toscano, for nutty and creamy notes against the wine's fruit, and Gorgonzola, whose sharp and nutty flavours it sets against Brunello's richness as a contrast. Gorgonzola is the contested one and has its own section below.

The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium's description of the oldest stages points the same way. Beyond 40 months it says the cheese gains astringency and calls for structured, full-bodied reds with bold tannins, and beyond 60 months it switches to sweet and fortified wines such as passito and Marsala Superiore.

What Cheese Goes with Vino Nobile and Rosso Toscana?

For Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Cheese.com picks two very different cheeses. It says the creamy texture and tangy, fruity flavour of Taleggio, a semi-soft washed-rind cheese from Lombardy, suit the wine's cherry and plum, and that mild ricotta complements the fruit.

A fresh cheese with a mid-weight red has a parallel in Gourmetaly's guide, which allows medium-bodied reds for buffalo mozzarella, including Dolcetto di Ovada and Lagrein.

Rosso Toscana is a looser category. Cheese.com describes it as ranging from light and fruity to medium-bodied, often blending Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, and pairs it with Pecorino Toscano and with Fontina, a semi-soft cheese with a creamy texture and earthy flavour whose richness suits the wine's fruit.

Which Cheese Goes with Vernaccia di San Gimignano?

Fresh, mild cheese is the consistent answer. Cheese.com pairs the wine with buffalo mozzarella and fresh ricotta, reasoning that the cheese's freshness and mildness meet the wine's crisp acidity, and Gourmetaly pairs it with fresh Tuscan pecorino and with Parmigiano Reggiano aged 12 months.

Wine Folly's profile describes what those cheeses have to leave room for: yellow apple, underripe pear, lemon, almond and saline notes, with a slight bitter note on the finish. Cheese.com also mentions almond, along with floral notes.

If you are also serving white meats or fish, Wine Folly's own food advice for Vernaccia covers them: white meats, fish and herbed sauces.

Can Blue Cheese Go with Tuscan Wine?

It can, with a red or a sweet wine depending on whose advice you follow. Cheese.com pairs Gorgonzola with Brunello di Montalcino and calls it a delightful contrast between the wine's richness and the cheese's sharp, nutty flavours.

Gourmetaly sends blue cheese to sweet wines or to reds of great body.

Centamore calls blue cheese his stated exception to matching like with like. He likes an aromatic, intense gorgonzola naturale set against a sweet, viscous Vin Santo, because he wants one part of the pairing to counter the other completely.

If you choose a Vin Santo di Montepulciano, the Montepulciano consortium's rules set the sugar of its dried grapes at 28%, or 33% for Riserva and Occhio di Pernice, and require a total alcoholic strength of at least 17%, of which at least 2% is unconverted.

The wine then spends at least three years in wooden vessels of no more than 300 litres, or five years in casks of no more than 125 litres for the Riserva.

Our reading is that a Tuscan board with blue cheese is safer with Vin Santo, since Gourmetaly and Centamore route blue cheese to sweet wine and the Brunello match is Cheese.com's alone.

How Do You Build a Tuscan Wine and Cheese Board?

Pecorino Toscano, Parmigiano Reggiano, ricotta and Gorgonzola are the cheeses the three guides name most often, so a board built around them follows the same ladder of weight. The plan below is our arrangement of their pairings by the number of bottles you open.

• One bottle: Chianti Classico, which Centamore pairs, aged, with Pecorino Gran Riserva and Gourmetaly pairs with Parmigiano Reggiano aged 24 months; Cheese.com adds Parmigiano Reggiano and Pecorino Romano for plain Chianti.
• Two bottles: add Vernaccia di San Gimignano for the light end, with ricotta, buffalo mozzarella or fresh pecorino.
• Three bottles: add Brunello di Montalcino for aged pecorino or 36-month Parmigiano, or a Vin Santo for Gorgonzola.

Serve the white colder than the reds: Wine Folly serves Vernaccia between 45 and 55°F (7 to 12°C) and Sangiovese between 60 and 68°F.

Centamore's advice for anyone learning Italian wine and cheese is to take one region at a time and focus on what makes its products represent that region, which is the approach a Tuscan-only board takes.