If you´re a chocolate lover, and you also happen to have a love for wine, then these pairings are going to blow your mind! Either if you´re planning a romantic dinner or you´re just planning to indulge yourself, wine and chocolate can be perfectly paired, but you do need to know how to make the right choice, this way you will have no regrets and will definitely enjoy more than you have imagined.
I, personally, am a red wine type of person, and luckily for me, red wine is what really goes well with chocolate. No wonder why red wine hot chocolate is my favorite.
Interesting facts
Some interesting facts that you may not have known:
- Both cacao beans and grapes are fermented with the same type of yeast to produce the delicious chocolate and wine.
- Both wine and chocolate contain tannins.
- Oh! And let's not forget that they are both considered as aphrodisiacs.
To make this chocolate – wine pairing a little less of a challenge for you, there are some rules you need to follow.
General tips
- Wine should be a little sweeter than the chocolate it will be paired with. This is probably the best advice you can follow when pairing up, if your wine is not sweeter than your chocolate, then you will end up tasting a bitter wine and your experience will not be what you were expecting. Chocolate can be overpowering and ruin a good wine; so basically, no dry wines with chocolate
- Pair similar styles and weight (i.e. strong chocolate with full-bodied wine)
- Choose high-quality chocolate, regardless of the type of chocolate
- The darker the wine, the darker the chocolate
- Cold chocolate desserts are usually a better match for wine
White Chocolate
Since this type of “chocolate” does not contain cocoa (therefore no tannins), pairing it with wine is actually a little easier than milk and dark chocolate. The buttery flavor makes white chocolate a perfect pair for sweet wines.
You can pair white chocolate perfectly with the following wines:
- Sweet Sherry - fig and molasses
- White Chocolate Cavity Maker cake is the perfect match for this wine
- Moscato d´Asti – orange, peach and apricot flavors
- An amazing recipe to pair with this wine is White Chocolate Panna Cotta with berries.
You could also do the exact opposite with white chocolate, you can decide to choose contrasting flavors for your wine pairing. Although, you will need to keep in mind that if you are not careful, your experience might not be too good. A good choice for these contrast is a Zinfandel.
Milk Chocolate
Since white chocolate is not a “true chocolate”, we could say then, that Milk Chocolate is the easiest chocolate to be paired with wine, the reason for this is the extra fat content in milk chocolate provides it with a smooth character.
Wines with a lighter body and silky tannins and even medium body wines are a perfect match for milk chocolate or creamy chocolate desserts.
These are some of your best choices:
- Pinot Noir – pale cherry, plum, and blackberry flavors
- Will pair up amazingly with a Decadent Chocolate Cake
- Muscat – grapefruit and musky aromas
- An orange Muscat is a perfect match for Bourbon Pecan Tart with Chocolate Drizzle12
- Champagne or sparkling wine – crisp apple and melon dry flavors
- A sweet sparkling rosé with go perfectly with Chocolate Fudge Cheesecake
Dark Chocolate
This is the chocolate that contains the higher amount of cacao (a minimum of 35%), and it is actually bittersweet. The perfect wine for this type of chocolate will have a fuller body, intense flavor and aroma.
Your best options for dark chocolate are:
- Cabernet Sauvignon – it has a black cherry flavor
- Flourless Chocolate Ganache Cake
- Merlot – it has cherry, plum flavors
- Dark chocolate brownies are the ultimate perfect match
- Zinfandel – with characteristic prune, raisin, blackberry, raspberry, black cherry flavors
- Late harvest Zinfandel will match perfectly with Chocolate Chip Shortcakes with Berries and Dark Chocolate Sauce
Bonus
If you´re pairing chocolate with sea salt and wine, then remember that salt accentuates flavors, in this case, you´re better off with a fruity or sweet white wine.
Hoping you will enjoy these suggestions, please remember these are not the only pairings you can experiment with, also consider this as it is, a guide, not an absolute. Personal preferences are always to be taken into consideration.
Dare to experiment, but if you want to impress someone, why not indulge in advance? Preparation is the key to success, you can try the different options we gave you or explore different ones, you may use the tips we provided you in this article to make your own perfect wine and chocolate pairing.
In the end what matters the most, is that you enjoy the pairing experience, either alone or with people you care and want to amaze.
* Author Bio/Credentials
Sara O Brown is a working mom, lives with her dentist husband and her adorable dog, Casper. She is passionate about traveling and cooking. She has been a regular contributor for - wine lover and https://www.findrarewhisky.com/whiskylife/