How to Create an Insta-Worthy Grazing Board
“Drinking good wine with good food in good company is one of life’s most civilized pleasures.” - Michael Broadbent
This statement could not be more true when it comes to sharing wine while enjoying a platter of cheese, charcuterie and bite-sized artisan delicacies. Here are our top tips on styling the ultimate grazing board paired with a few of our favourite wines. Whether it’s a picnic indoors or amongst nature or the perfect start to a dinner party, your grazing board will be a feast for all the senses!
Styling Tips:
The Spring and Summer season is all about instagrammable grazing boards, beautiful table settings and gorgeous picnic spreads. Curating your tablescape, decorations and menu can be a really fun part of planning any occasion.
It’s important to first choose your theme and aesthetics from tableware, fabrics, greenery and flowers you have available. Your colour palette choice can be guided by the beautiful fresh food or botanicals in season. Pick 2 or 3 colours to inspire your decorating style and then mix and match a variety of serveware, crockery and linens or napery for a personal touch. Finally, adjust the lighting and select the perfect playlist to set the mood.
Assemble your grazing board with an abundance of colours, textures and layer your items artfully at different heights to create interest. Start by slicing and arranging your cheese first and then fill the spaces around them. You can fold charcuterie meats in creative ways to add texture and use pistachios and other nuts to fill the gaps. Creating a focal point will also add to the aesthetic, like a baked brie wheel oozing in honeycomb.
Lawn games are also a great way to keep the group entertained while enjoying a weekend afternoon grazing in the sun.
Pairing Wine Tips:
Jaraman Grenache
Grenache is a medium-bodied, juicy style wine with a graceful and lengthy finish. This drop has great aromatic flavours of raspberry and an absence of elevated tannins and acidity. Therefore, Grenache will couple wonderfully with semi-soft to harder cheeses. Complete the semi-soft and hard cheeses with crispbread and chorizo.
Build your Grazing Board with:
Cheese: Sharp Cheddar, Asiago, Parmigiano-Reggiano
Biscuit: Crispbread
Cured Meat: Chorizo
Estate Label Sparkling
Sparkling is always a crowd pleaser and the perfect wine to kick off a tasting. The Estate Sparkling presents a perfect balance of citrus zest, creamy softness and bubbles to enrich many soft cheeses. Soft creamy white and blue cheese or even triple cream cheese is a great pair as the bubbles cut through the rich buttery texture. Place this type of cheese on a fig & pecan speciality cracker joined by a slice of salami.
Build your Grazing Board with:
Cheese type: Fromager d’Affinois, Brie, Creamy Blue Cheese
Biscuit: Fig & Pecan Speciality Crackers
Cured Meat: Salami
Estate Label Pinot Noir Rosé
Pinot Noir Rosé is usually enjoyed due to its classic fresh, crisp acidity and refreshing delicate fruit flavours. This wine without a doubt pairs well with fresh, young and salty cheeses. The soft cow's milk, tangy and salty cheeses go with the zippy acidity in the rosé. Try with a thin slice of baguette topped by shaved prosciutto.
Build your Grazing Board with:
Cheese: Feta, Mozzarella, Burrata, Baby Swiss
Biscuit: Thinly sliced baguette
Cured Meat: Prosciutto
Jaraman Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon offers a generously bold and hearty structure so when looking to pair with cheese, choose full flavoured cheeses. As a cabernet sauvignon is well balanced, complex and fulfilling, a hard, intense cheese with complex flavours will ensure they compliment each other and not overpower one another. To maintain the balance eat this type of cheese with plain, sea salt or grain crackers topped with salami.
Build your Grazing Board with:
Cheese: Aged Gouda, Aged Cheddar and Grana Padano
Biscuit: Plain, Sea Salt or Grain Crackers
Cured Meat: Salami (Hot Salami)
Estate Label Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a mouth-filling, enjoyable wine bursting with fresh flavours of fruit, creamy and underlying toastiness. Serve this chardonnay with buttery, rich cheeses as its character can withstand the fudgy texture and intense flavours. The rich cheese will go well on a plain water cracker and prosciutto.
Build your Grazing Board with:
Cheese: Goats Cheese, Gruyere, Brie and Gorgonzola
Biscuit: Plain water cracker or bread sticks
Cured Meat: Prosciutto
TWP Riesling
Rieslings are extraordinarily versatile with food. In general, pair lighter, crisper riesling with delicate soft, creamy to semi-hard cheese. This rieslings' acidity and subtle sweetness of tropical fruits provides a beautiful balance with soft and rich cheeses. Enjoy these cheeses on crunchy pita chips with sliced ham or prosciutto.
Build your Grazing Board with:
Cheese: Cammerbet, Brie, Havarti and Young Cheddar
Biscuit: Pita Chips
Cured Meat: Ham or Prosciutto