Jul 20 2009
Pairing Wine And Chocolate
Some people deny drinking wine with chocolate. So it is upon them to decide whether to serve wine with it or not. In any case chocolate can be an excellent addition to this nice beverage.To pair wine and chocolate right follow next useful advice we represent to you.
First of all, you have to remember that wine you choose must be as sweet as the chocolate you serve it with or even a bit sweeter. The matter is that wine can possess sour or bitter taste in case chocolate is much sweeter than the drink. Another rule is following: choosing lighter-bodied beverages select also lighter chocolate with gentle taste and aroma. And vice versa: if the wine is full-bodied prefer bitter chocolate. For instance, such strong california wine as Zinfandel demands some bittersweet chocolate. In case you wish to experiment with few kinds of chocolate begin with light sorts and finish with dark ones. Moreover, you should try first gentle white sorts of chocolate and then go to dark and bittersweet ones.
What wine goes with white chocolate?
During pairing wine and chocolate remember that, for example, white chocolate tastes like buttery. So it will be a nice addition for sherry wine (such as Osborne Pedro Ximénez Sherry), moscato wine (Saracco Moscato d’Asti 2006 is really good one), light and sweet wine from Piedmont area in Italy and orange muscat wine such as Ventana Vineyard’s Muscat d’Orange. Chocolate creaminess will disappear when drinking Moscato d’Asti and Sherry while fruit flavours will be picked up with the help of the Orange Muscat. Besides, pairing wine with white sorts of chocolate you may bear in mind that it is possible to play on contrast, though it is a bit risky deal. Nevertheless, the result of such wine pairing may be wonderful. For instance, zinfandel wine which is characterized with tannic rather heavy degree of alcohol may be perfectly paired with white chocolate that has a bit buttered and creamy taste. By the way, such a mixture often gives the so called “melding” effect.
What wine goes with milk chocolate?
You may easily choose milk chocolate pairing wine following the next advice: select pinot noir wine such as Mark West Pinot Noir or give preference to merlot wine (Hogue both with Columbia Crest are proper for those purposes). Besides, these kinds of wine are also your right choice when the speech is about chocolate characterized with creamy mousse and cheesecake flavour. Milk chocolates of mild sorts will be a nice addition for such wine marks as, for example, riesling wine and Muscat. Choose also dessert wine for that aim. Milk chocolate and strawberries is a splendid pair for sparkling wine and champagne wine as well. To discover a charming flavour of ruby port wine select classic milk chocolate and you will not make a mistake.
What wine goes with dark chocolate?
Bittersweet and dark sorts of chocolate should be served with a bit robust and roasted wine. Nice taste combination can be also derived from the pair dark chocolate + cabs and dark chocolate + wine zinfandel as well. Excellent results give pairing of cabernet sauvignon wine or california zinfandel wine with dark sorts of chocolate. By the way, do not forget about best pinot noir wine and best merlot wine when finding a pair for dark chocolate with 55% of cocoa content. Majestic results of pairing dark chocolate with wine can give tawny port wine and vintage port wine as well.
What about experiments with pairing wine with chocolate?
In case you wish to try pairing wine and chocolate by yourself begin with such chocolate sorts as Black and Green premium. These bars do not complicate your searching of ideal wine chocolate pairing and are rather cheap. Try experiments with mixing and matching till the moment you find a taste which satisfies your preferences. Discover your list of wines which corresponds to this or that kind of chocolate and you will see how many successful combinations of wine and chocolate may be derived! Good luck!
