Wine & Chocolate Mmm...

WINE & CHOCOLATE MMM...

When it comes to talking wine and chocolate, my mind immediately drifts to dark chocolate and deep red wines… but that could be because "most" of my favorite wines are large, bold red wines. ;) To ring in the grand month of February on this leap year, let's take a deeper look into pairing wines with Chocolate and other sweets.

Wine Myth - Red wine pairs perfectly with chocolate

Some red wines go well with chocolate but the rule doesn't guarantee wonderful results with many wines. Try to consider that you want your wine to be a hint sweeter what you are paring it with. Chocolate that contains a ton of sugar can make the wine it's being consumed with seem too bitter. Opt for dark chocolate with a high cocoa content (more than 50 per cent) and choose a wine with lots of sweet fruit or oak characteristics, such as a Bordeaux blend of Merlot & Cabernet, or a good example from the Marquee portfolio is the Marquee Signature Langhorne Creek Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine spent over 18 months aged in new American Oak and therefore has a innate sweetness that pairs beautifully with a deep, dark Chocolate.

New Idea – Chocolate covered strawberries & Champagne or Riesling

Well maybe its not that new of an idea, but it is definitely a good one!. Having nice, ripe strawberries dipped in both dark and white chocolate are a delight in and of themselves, but choosing a demi-sec sparkling and or an off-dry Riesling to pair with them allows the strong acid backbone in the wines to pair wonderfully with the juicy strawberries. You could go the traditional route and just do strawberries and Champagne, yet why add a new touch to an old classic. The just released 2007 vintage of the Marquee Classic Riesling would pair wonderfully!

For the Adventurous – Dessert wines and Desserts with Chocolate

On this, I love to either pick a flavor profile in my wine and then try and match it in the dessert, or to pick my wine and use it to help concoct the actual dessert. For the first style, take the Marquee Signature Dessert Chardonnay, it is brimming with apricots, pear, and marmalade flavors… pear is a bit hard to find in the chocolate world, but a brief look around finds many citrus infused chocolates…The hint of citrus in the chocolate is a fun match to the wine, or this beautiful wine is also great to pour over ice cream and garnish with a white chocolate square. Two minutes and you have a beautiful, classy dessert! Whatever your flavor for the month, enjoy it with style and let me know about your new and interesting subjects in the wine and sprits world.

Till next month, Cheers!

Christopher J. Cribb, CSW