Vintners Cellar Bedford

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CHOCOLATE AND WINE PAIRING

You may think that all wine and chocolate go together but the truth is that when pairing chocolate with wine, there are a few things that need to be considered. You could pour your favorite glass of dry red wine to have with a piece of dark chocolate, only for them both to suddenly taste bitter and sour.

Wine and chocolate make everything better. To elevate your wine and chocolate experience, consider indulging in some of these chocolate and wine pairings.

Tips for Pairing Chocolate and Wine

In general, there's a few tips that are good to apply universally:

  1. Choose a wine that is sweeter than the chocolate you are pairing it with to harmonize and compliment the pairing. If the wine is as sweet as the chocolate the two very sweet tastes would be overpowering.  

  2. Pair wines and chocolates that are similar in intensity and weight. Light, delicate chocolates should be paired with light, delicate wines; rich, strong chocolates pair best with rich, full-bodied wines. 

  3. If you are sampling multiple pairings, work your way up. Start with the light wines and chocolates and end with the rich wines and chocolates.  

  4. Beware polyphenols. Wine's polyphenols come mainly from the skins, and because the red-winemaking process involves more extended contact with the grape skins, those wines tend to contain a lot more polyphenols than white wines do. Be aware of bitter and sour tastes; a bittersweet dark chocolate alongside a tannic Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec will leave an unpleasant taste.


Basic Wine and Chocolate Pairing Rules:

The wine should be as sweet as the chocolate.

Begin pairing by color. The darker the chocolate, the darker the wine.

When possible, opt for a high quality chocolate.

Consider texture as well as taste.

Milk Chocolate Wine Pairing

For milk chocolate, look for high quality chocolates that are half cream and half chocolate. The cream will make milk chocolate easy to pair with wine.

Pinot Noir for its silky tannins and ripe, red fruit.

To complement the smooth cocoa butter in milk chocolate, a medium-bodied Merlot is a good choice.

Other sweet wines such as Rieslings, Muscats, and other dessert wines go excellent with the sweet tastes of milk chocolate. Light fruity, wines will bring out the chocolate accents.

Dark Chocolate Wine Pairing

A true dark chocolate contains at least 35% cocoa solids. Because they can border on being bitter, caution should be taken with dry wines.

Dark chocolates pair well with full-bodied, robust wines, perhaps with hints of fruit or chocolatey flavors. Zinfandels are ideal for this. Another good choice would be a Cabernet Sauvignon. As the cocoa solid content is get higher, up to 55%, a less tannic with such as Pinot Noir or Merlot would be a good choice.

Other good choices are be Shiraz/Syrah, Chianti and Port

White Chocolate Wine Pairing

White chocolate is not technically chocolate it does contain cocoa fat, but it contains no actual coca. This makes it incredibly versatile in wine pairings.

Because it is so mellow and buttery, go with sweet sherry, port or with complimentary fruit flavors like an Orange Muscat.

White chocolate is the only chocolate that's truly suited for dry red wines!

Referenced from the Wine Buying Guide