If I could have any cheese plate for Valentines Day, it would feature one of these 3 below pairings, or all of them. After years of sharing my tips on how to make a great cheese plate and how much you all love dairy, I’m confident that you guys can rock a cheese board. If you don’t quite yet feel comfortable, here’s a video of me explaining how to make a beautiful board from French goat cheeses. (But let’s be honest, you’re probably already tossing around cheeses and boards like Tom Cruise on Cocktail)

But it would be fair to wonder, after years of me sharing hundreds of cheese pairings, which ones I actually like the most. At least, this year! Which ones I’d be sure to include on a Valentine’s Day cheese pairing plate for myself. Is this board for my husband? Nope! It’s all my favorites. I’ll probably let him have a bite or two though. : ) Here they are below.

My Top 3 Valentine’s Day Cheese Pairings

1. A soft, creamy bark-wrapped cheese like Point Reyes Quinta, Harbison or Rush Creek and Fritos. Or Funyuns. Why? Because cream and crunch go together. Or, because you can. This post explores how to pair fun finds with the style of cheese.

2. Roquefort blue cheese and a raw dark honey. Let’s be honest, any blue cheese and any honey is tops, but when I really want to celebrate the spicy and heavy brown buttery notes in the sheep’s milk cheese roquefort, I go for a dark and rustic honey, not a light one. Think buckwheat, chestnut, avocado honey, or some of that honey you buy from the horse rancher a town over who also keeps bees (you all have a neighbor like that, right?).

3. Lambrusco and a young pecorino or sheep’s milk cheese. A young pecorino (any sheep’s milk from Italy) can be found at your local Italian grocery store or deli (like Corti Brothers), small cheese shop, or, if all else fails, grab a younger, softer Manchego. The melted butter and green olive flavors of a young pecorino couldn’t be better with this berry-packed and peppery wine. Just make sure to pick up a dry Lambrusco.

I hope fall in love with one or more of these pairings for Valentine’s Day, too.