Charlie had red sort of cheese (7)
I believe the answer is:
cheddar
'cheese' is the definition.
(cheddar cheese is a kind of cheese)
'charlie had red sort' is the wordplay.
'charlie' becomes 'c' (phonetic alphabet: alpha, bravo, charlie etc.).
'sort' is an anagram indicator.
'had'+'red'='hadred'
'hadred' with letters rearranged gives 'heddar'.
'c'+'heddar'='CHEDDAR'
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for cheddar that I've seen before include "Somerset gorge location" , "Firm cheese originally from Somerset" , "English cheese variety" , "part of ploughman's lunch" , "Kind of cheese" .)