(photo from here)
When you think of a romantic evening, what are the first two things that pop into your head? Maybe a lingering kiss or candlelight if you’re getting fancy, but wine and chocolate should be high up on the list. While it seems like it’d be easy to drink wine and eat chocolate and have them taste good together, it’s actually more difficult than it seems. At the risk of sounding like a wine snob (which I most certainly am not), chocolate and wine have “flavor profiles,” and you have to be careful when combining them so you get combinations that taste good.
When pairing wine and chocolate, you can make a choice to match the flavors or contrast them to make the individual flavor profiles pop. Many people choose to match chocolate with wines that echo the fruity flavors found in most chocolates, but there is no need to limit yourself to those options. Feel free to play around until you find combinations you like! Here are some that I’ve found are good as well as some that I’d like to try.
Pro tip #1: if you’re having a wine tasting and chocolate party, have plain crackers on hand for people to cleanse their palates between pairings.
Pro tip #2: Pair super rich chocolate desserts with a dessert wine like ruby port which is sweet but has enough body to match the intensity of the chocolate
Wine and Chocolate Pairing Suggestions
-White Chocolate: it’s pretty versatile because it doesn’t have any cocoa which accounts for the bitter taste that some chocolate has. Try a rosé port for a strawberry flavor, Riesling, or champagne for a nice compliment.
-Milk Chocolate: Milk chocolate has less cocoa than darker chocolate so it still is fairly versatile. Pair it with sherry, a light merlot, or Riesling.
-Semisweet Chocolate: Since it has a stronger flavor, try port or cabernet sauvignon.
-Bittersweet Chocolate: Bittersweet chocolate is known for it’s intense chocolate flavor, so here come the heavy, full-bodied wines. Zinfandel, cabernet sauvignon, and merlot make will compliment the more intense chocolate flavor nicely. Chambord is also a nice combination.
-Dark Chocolate: Since this is chocolate at it’s most intense, bust out the deep red wines. Merlot, zinfandel, and bordeaux are nice options.
Let me know if you think of any pairings that would be good. Happy indulging!
See these websites for more wine and chocolate pairing suggestions! Click here, here, and here.
A Truffle A Day 