How to Assemble the Perfect Cheese Plate

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Complete with wine pairings, of course!

It’s no secret that charcuterie and cheese boards are delicious, crowd pleasing appetizer options for hosting (both casual girls nights and more formal family holidays) but knowing exactly what to include can be a bit overwhelming.

We’ve got a outline for what you should include (and why) to make sure you’re covering every category, as well as a downloadable PDF to save for later - or pin this post! It’s a bit of a “choose your own adventure,” which makes it flexible for different wine pairings, guest preferences, or for including your favorite cheeses!

Step 1: The Cheese

The most important part of a cheese plate, is the cheese! Your cheeseboard should include 2-3 cheeses (if not more!!) in a variety of textures and flavors so that there’s something for everyone. A good guide is to include the following:

  • One Hard Cheese:

    • Parmesan, paired with Luna Nuda Prosecco

    • Aged White Cheddar, paired with Luna Nuda Rosé or Prosecco Rosé

    • Manchego, paired with Luna Nuda Red Blend

  • One Soft Cheese:

    • Ricotta, paired with Luna Nuda Pinot Grigio

    • Brie, paired with Luna Nuda Rosé

    • Goat Cheese, paired with Luna Nuda Rosé

  • One “fun” cheese:

    • Camembert, paired with Luna Nuda Pinot Grigio or Prosecco Rosé

    • Stilton, paired with Luna Nuda Red Blend

    • Aged Goat Cheese, paired with Luna Nuda Prosecco

Step 2: Charcuterie

Yes, the whole board is often called a charcuterie board, but that’s technically just referring to the meat! We're fans of two meat options, but one will probably do it (especially if you’ve got vegetarians in the group!) There’s a couple of crowd pleasing options, but if you’re doing more than one, add some fun or funky options:

  • Salami, paired with Luna Nuda Prosecco

  • Pepperoni, paired with Luna Nuda Red Blend

  • Prosciutto, paired with Luna Nuda Prosecco Rosé

  • Grilled Chicken Sausage (traditionally charcuterie is served cold, but we love the unexpected element of warm chicken sausage, and it pairs well with Luna Nuda Pinot Grigio!)

Step 3: Spreads and Breads

Sure, you can eat meat and cheese on it’s own, but you can’t have a good spread without something to put it on, so we combined these two. Spreads like honey and jam can make a good cheese even better and things like hummus or tapenade are great for vegan or vegetarian guests. What you put it on is mostly a perference, but consider what’s easy to serve (crackers are easier to prep than slicing a baguette) but also what’s on your board (hummus and pita is a classic, but hummus also would be great with sesame sticks)

  • Spreads:

    • Jams and Jellys

    • Honey

    • Hummus

    • Mustard

    • Fig spread

  • Breads

    • Baguette slices

    • Crackers

    • Pita

    • Matzo

Step 4: Fruits, Nuts, and Other Options

The extras, or if you’re feeling fancy - accoutrements, helps round out your cheese plate, both visually and to give variety to your bites! We like including a few of these so your guests don’t fill up on cheese and can cleanse their palate between the rich flavors! If you’re prepping a board in advance, easy to prep things like grapes, mixed nuts, and olives.

  • Fruits:

    • Apples (honey crisps don’t brown!)

    • Grapes

    • Berries (wash them in advance and you’re good to go!)

    • Figs

  • Nuts

    • Almonds (who doesn’t love almonds?!)

    • Walnuts (great with honey and brie!)

    • Mixed Nuts

    • Pistachios

  • Other Options:

    • Olives

    • Pickles

    • Dried Fruit

    • Artichoke Hearts

    • Fresh Veggies

We’ve condensed all of this info into a guide so that it’s easy for you to make your shopping list, and have added a cheat sheet of cheese and wine pairings (plus tasting notes) so you can share your knowledge with friends, or make it into an activity where you try each wine + cheese pairing!

BONUS: The Board

Ok, so when it comes to instagram-worthy cheeseboards, you can’t forget the actual board! We figured we’d share a few of our favorites below, in case you’re looking to add a beautiful cheeseboard to your collection!