Wine and Cheese Time Trivia Quiz

Answer: Madeira and Texas Goat Cheese

Madeira is a wine produced chiefly in the Madeira Islands of Portugal. It comes in styles from dry to sweet, and is a very robust wine. Due to its processing which includes oxidation, Madeira has a long life even after being opened. Madeira is a white wine with a caramel nutty note.

Texas Goat Cheese lets you know this is a cheese made from the milk of goats; it is produced in the United States. The cheese is mild, fresh, and delicate for a cheese from goat's milk. It is a soft cheese with herbal overtones and is very suitable for breakfast.

Answer: Verdicchio and White Stilton

Verdicchio is a white wine produced in the Marches region of Italy. The grapes are a yellowish/green which gives the wine its name; verde meaning green. The wine can be sparkling and have a fruity, citrus, almond to slight bitter finish. On the store shelf it may be bottled as Verdone, Marchigiano, and Uva Marana. Verdicchio is suitable to serve with fish and risotto as well as other white meats.


White Stilton is a hard cheese from Leicestershire, England. Suitable for vegetarians, it is produced from cow's milk. White Stilton is mild and crumbly and has a lemon-fresh acidity. The cheese ripens in six to eight weeks and is a good table cheese.

Answer: Chenin Blanc and Sonoma Jack

Chenin Blanc is a white wine produced from grapes in the Loire Valley of France. It is also produced in South Africa as well as California. This is a dry to very sweet wine that has a fruity, apple, melon, pear ad lime taste infused with vanilla and honey. The very best Chenin Blancs are a bit aciduous with an oily finish. This wine serves well with salads, some rice dishes, sushi seafood and other white meat.


Sonoma Jack is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese made in the United States. The cheese made its appearance late in the nineteenth century thanks to farmer David Jacks. Sonoma Jack comes in a variety of flavors including peppery ones. This cheese is similar to the Scottish cheese Dunlop in that it too has a sweet and creamy taste.

Answer: Frontenac Gris and Quark

In 2003 Frontenac Gris was introduced to the world. It is a white wine cultivated from fruit grown in Minnesota and Canada. The wine presents with a fruit taste and some acidity. It is a great dessert and table wine.


Quark is a German soft cheese made of cow's milk. The name itself bespeaks the product; quark means curd in German. This cheese dates back to the Iron Age. It can be made with whole, skimmed, semi-skimmed milk, or even buttermilk. Quark, which also comes in an Australian variety, ripens in just a few days.

Answer: Riesling and Tillamook Cheddar

Riesling is a white wine that got its start in the Mosel and Rhein river valleys. Riesling styles range from dry to sweet and light to full-bodied. Riesling tantalizes the taste buds with a fruitiness and slight floral undertones. Riesling can often present with a honey and spice bouquet, ending with a noticeable mineral taste because of their soils. As a white wine Riesling pairs well with seafood and white meats. However, it will also compliment the spiciness of Asian, Moroccan, and even Mexican dishes.


Tillamook Cheddar is a hard cheese made from cow's milk. This cheese is produced in the United States and uses heat-treated rather than pasteurized milk. Tillamook Cheddar comes in blocks and is suitable for vegetarians. The cheese is a table cheese also suitable for grating, grilling and baking.

Answer: Merlot and Hubbardston Blue Cow

Merlot grapes originated from the Bordeaux region of France. They produce a red wine that is soft and medium-bodied. While the flavor of Merlot is fruity, you might also notice a cocoa and black pepperiness. Though Merlot is a red wine it can be tabled with poultry as well as lamb, beef, salads or pastas.

Hubbardston Blue Cow cheese got its start at Westfield Farm in Hubbardston Massachusetts. The cheese was produced because Hubbardston Blue (which is made from goat's milk) is in short supply during winter months. So Westfield Farm produced Hubbardston Blue using cow's milk. This is a surface ripened cheese and has a soft and creamy center. Hubbardston Blue Cow is a fresh round cheese with a natural rind. The cheese also has a sweet taste and a hint of almonds. Hubbardston Blue Cow is not a blue cheese. It's called blue because of the blue-gray covering of mould that speeds the ripening.

Answer: Grenache and Pecorino Romano

Students of wine believe that Grenache wine originated in the northern Aragon region of Spain. The Grenache grape is the most planted grape in Europe. Grenache is also produced in California, Africa, and Australia. The wine has a lighter color rose, but it can also be manipulated into a darker red.

The defining Grenache notes (aromas and tastes) are raspberry and strawberry. However, Grenache based wines can have the notes of black currants, black cherries and black olives, as well as coffee, gingerbread, honey, leather, tar and other things. The shelf life of Grenache is about five years. At the table it compliments beef, hearty meats, burgers, and stews.

Pecorino Romano originated in the Latium region of Italy and was produced there until around 1884. Because of salting issues the makers moved their production to Sardina, Italy, and the cheese has since been produced there.

Pecorino Romano is a slightly white cheese made exclusively from sheep's milk. The cheese is very hard and of grating quality. Sheep produce milk only six to seven months a year so the cheese production has to last while the sheep are not producing milk.

Answer: Malbec and Mascarpone

The grape for Malbec wines may have its origin in France but the country of Argentina has made Malbec wine its own. Argentina is the largest producer of Malbec wines. Argentine Malbec is a light red wine with a juicy fruit flavor, and violet aromas. This wine can at times be almost jammy. Malbecs are gaining ground in the United States to even the casual wine drinkers, perhaps because of its soft and velvety texture. Pair a Malbec with your grilled meats and enjoy your summer.


Mascarpone is a soft, white fresh, vegetarian curd cheese from the Lombardy region of southern Italy. Mascarpone is made in much the same way as yogurt.

Mascarpone pairs well with Champagne, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Gris. It also pairs with apples, grapes, pears, fig jam and honey. It will also complement a port, beer, cider or stout.

Answer: Remy Martin VSOP and Gowrie

Remy Martin VSOP is the best selling of the cognacs. Aged to between 4 and 15 years, Remy Martin cognac consists of at least 100 different *eaux-de-vie. It is classified as a fine champagne blend.

This cognac is a pale golden color with notes of roses, vanilla, a bit of fruit and a hint of almond. It's smooth and balanced on the palate with a lingering finish.

*Eaux-de-vie: Colorless brandy distilled from fermented fruit juice.


Gowrie is a hard cheese made from cow's milk. It is a cheese from Scotland that is wrapped in local linen to produce its natural rind. While gowrie is made in much the same way as cheddar cheese, gowrie is softer and less dense. Gowrie ripens in seven to twelve months.

Answer: Harveys Bristol Cream and Colby

John Harvey was a Bristol, England wine merchant who began importing Spanish and Portuguese wines in 1796. Somewhere between the 1860 and 80s Harvey's son, John Harvey II, and his brother Edward developed the world's first cream sherry. That beverage has since come to be known as Harveys Bristol Cream.

Harveys Bristol Cream begins with a blend of fifty different *solera and ends with the addition of Pedro Ximénez to give the sherry it trademark sweetness, and rich creaminess. The wine has a chestnut to amber color and the notes of tangy dried fruit, grape flavors, with a subtle spiciness; smooth, mellow, and finishes with a woody nutty and earthy flavor.

Harveys Bristol Cream can be served chilled, over ice, straight, or as a dessert wine. A wedge of orange or lime may garnish Harveys Bristol Cream over ice. The sherry may be tabled with cheesecake, flan, bread pudding and other simliar deserts.

*Solera: A solera is the set of barrels or containers used in the fractional aging of some liquids such as vinegar, beer, brandy and wines.


Colby cheese got its start in Colby, Wisconsin in the 1800s by Joseph Steinwand. Colby is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese that while sold in other countries is native to the United States.

Colby pairs well with Zinfandel, Syrah, and Shiraz wines. It also goes well with tangy rye breads, and fruits such as apples and pears. It makes a great grilled sandwich.