Wine & Chocolate…A Love Affair
Valentine’s Day is a favorite holiday of mine not because of romance, or silly gifts or overpriced dinners at overcrowded restaurants, but because it gives me an excuse to indulge in two things that I am most passionate about: wine and chocolate. Yet pairing wine and chocolate to create an amazing marriage of flavors can be a bit tricky. Understanding how wine and chocolate complement each other will help guide you to creating your own perfect pairings.
Like wine, chocolate is in essence complex. If you have ever read descriptive notes about chocolate, you might believe you are reading tasting notes for wine. Words such as “tannins,” “earthy,” “fruity,” and “nutty” are terms most familiar to us when describing wine. But these same terms are used to describe chocolate. Chocolate, like wine, can be tannic. The bitterness of chocolate may accentuate the perception of tannins in wine. That is why pairing dark chocolate with a highly tannic dry wine may result in your mouth feeling like tree bark. Chocolate can be decadently sweet, especially rich milk chocolate. But it is that luscious sweetness in chocolate that will often make a dry wine taste bitter or even sour. The sheer complexity of chocolate almost always diminishes the natural fruitiness in wine.
So how do you create a perfect pairing of wine and chocolate? Start by looking for wines that you would generally not pair with your dinner entrée. Look for wines that are sweeter than the chocolate. For dark chocolate, look for wines that are sweet and offer a body and structure that complement the natural complexity of chocolate. Look for, well, those most mysterious of wines that we call “dessert wines.” Here are a few examples of my favorite wine and chocolate pairings:
Brachetto d’Acqui – an absolutely delightful frizzante wine from the Piedmont region of Italy, Brachetto d’Acqui is hands-down a perfect pairing with white chocolate and milk chocolate. With flavors and aromas of strawberries, this low-alcohol slightly bubbly wine with a gorgeous bright cherry color begs to be paired with the creamy sweetness of white or milk chocolate. My favorite pairing? Brachetto d’Acqui with white chocolate covered strawberries. Pure love!
Moscato d’Asti - another slightly sparkling wine from Piedmont, Moscato d’Asti is the perfect partner for milk chocolate. The sweetness of creamy milk chocolate reduces the perception of Moscato d’Asti’s sweetness in a slight yet pleasant way. With flavors and aromas of peaches, oranges and honeysuckle, this low-alcohol sparkler pairs well with many desserts. My favorite pairing? Moscato d’Asti with a slice of decadent chocolate frosted Smith Island cake!
Ruby Port – a full-bodied, high-alcohol mouthful of sweet red fruit, Ruby Port has the complexity and body to match dark chocolate. Produced in the Douro Valley of Portugal, this fortified wine is a beautiful deep ruby color and offers flavors of raspberries, cherries, plums and sometimes chocolate! No wonder it is the soulmate to dark chocolate.
There are many other wonderful wines to pair with chocolate. You may want to try Muscat Blanc, Mavrodaphne of Patras, or Moscatel de Setúbal. The best way to find your perfect pairing is to explore the many styles of sweet wines from around the world with your favorite style of chocolate. Cheers!