Farmhouse cheddar

Camembert or Brie

Triple cream like St. Andre or Brillat-Savarin

Fresh ricotta

Accompaniments: Pears (Asian or red Bartlett, thinly sliced), Fuyu persimmons (peeled and thinly sliced), sliced melon, sliced nectarines or peaches, apricots (pitted and quartered), grapes (red or green, in small clusters), country bread (whole grain, sliced) and water crackers.

Condiments: fig compote, kumquat marmalade and white truffle honey.

Dried fruit and nuts: Spanish almonds, dried apricots, figs or dates.

Pairing wine and cheese

Here are some simple guidelines you can follow when planning your entertaining. Most cheeses can be grouped into one of five major categories. From there it's easy to select an accompanying wine. And if you are serving a variety of different cheeses, perhaps put out a couple of different varieties for your guests to enjoy.

Goat and sheep cheeses: Cheeses fit into this category when the tangy flavor of the milk predominates. Young goat milk cheeses cry out for a crisp young white such as sauvignon blanc, pinot gris, chenin blanc or French chablis. Harder, more mature cheeses such as pecorino have affinity for lively reds such as sangiovese or zinfandel.

Soft cheeses: The mouth-coating texture of soft cheeses can make red wines taste thin and tough. The effervescence of Champagne and sparkling wines cuts through beautifully. A crisp aromatic white (riesling, for instance) can also do well, especially if it has a bit of sweetness.

Hard cheeses: These cheeses match with a greater range of wines than those of any other category. Their firm consistency does not leave a trail of mouth-coating butterfat. Their deeper, more mature flavors can work well with powerful and complex reds, especially mature cabernet sauvignon, merlot, syrah, Italian barolo and Spanish Rioja, and even whites with some bottle age.

Blue cheeses: The moldy flavors of blue cheeses often fight with dry wines and can be tough on reds. Sweet wines such as Sauternes with roquefort or port with stilton are perfect partners. Late-harvest whites such chenin blanc, pinot gris, riesling, and semillon are usually a match made in heaven.

Extreme cheeses: Cheeses with bizarre and loud personalities include Epoisses, munster, and Limburger. Some of these cheeses are spiced or smoked. As fun as these cheeses can be, usually only sweet or fortified wines can hold their own against them. Consider a sweet sherry, Madeira, Sauternes, Hungarian Tokaji, or late-harvest gewurztraminer.

(Diane Rossen Worthington is an authority on new American cooking. She is the author of 18 cookbooks, including "Seriously Simple Parties," and a James Beard Award-winning radio show host. You can contact her at www.seriouslysimple.com.)