Chocolate + Wine Pairing

Do Wine & Chocolate pair well together? Despite the people's love for both wine and chocolate, when they are paired together they often fight on your palate. If you were to listen to "the experts," they would say that chocolate doesn't pair with wine at all. BUT, when it is combined together well, there are few food & wine pairing that are as deliciously decadent. When done incorrectly, it will turn the whole pairing experience incredibly bitter on your palate. Unfortunately, you can't just open your favorite wine and pair it with your favorite chocolate bar or confectionary treat.

The philosophy to use when selecting a chocolate to pair with a wine

As I was curious how a professional would tackle this problem, I reached out to some people who do this everyday. Julian Wine & Chocolate's Albert Lewis recommends, "I generally use the classic wine pairing concepts of congruent and complementary pairings to guide my choices. ... A complementary pairing creates balance by reinforcing or enhancing the qualities of the other." This is very similar to pairing your wine with other foods. Pick-out the dominant flavor(s) of the chocolate treat you are going to eat & then decide if you would prefer similar flavors playing nicely together like lemon tart with a Pinot Grigio or if you prefer to focus on a contrasting flavor pairing like Salted Caramel.

How to get the most enjoyment from your Chocolate + Wine together:

Swirl the glass to aerate the wine.
Take a sip of your wine.
Bite a piece of chocolate, savor and melt it on your tongue.
As soon as you swallow the chocolate, take another sip of the wine.

There are a few easy rules that Donna Henrickson of Little Washington Winery tries to use when helping customers select the perfect Wine + Chocolate Pairing:

Big Needs Big - Dark chocolate with a high cacao content work well with Big Bold Red wines.
Sweet Needs Sweet - But not too sweet. Remember to make sure that the desert is never sweeter that the wine you are drinking, or your wine will be very bitter on the palate.
Citrus Needs Citrus - If the chocolate desert as a citrus component (like orange flavored chocolate), the citrus of each element will tame the citrus of the other element, and make both a little less tart on the palate.
Forget the Rules - It is Wine & Chocolate after all.

What was the all Best wine pairing with chocolate that you have ever experienced?

Albert Lewis of Julian Wine & Chocolate says, "An Italian style Passito dessert wine made from Aleatico grapes paired with a strawberry waffle milk chocolate. Passito is a naturally sweet wine made by drying the grapes before fermentation and then fermenting on the native yeasts. The fermentation naturally stops before dryness due to the highly concentrated sugars from drying. Add strawberry waffle milk chocolate and WOW!"

Donna Henrickson of Little Washington Winery says, a "Rosemary dark chocolate caramel truffle with SMGs," "Dark chocolate laced with orange goes brilliantly with a sweet Riesling" & "A Late Harvest, Muscadel or Port-style wine is also generally a good pair with dark chocolate."

Suzanne Oakley of Experience: CHOCOLATE says, a "32% Neuhaus milk chocolate Paired with 2003 Royal Tokaji Aszu 5 Puttanyos (Hungary)" and a "70% Valrhona Guanaja Paired with Banyuls (France)"

What was the worst chocolate + wine pairing that you have ever experienced?

Suzanne Oakley of Experience: CHOCOLATE remanenced, [most] "anything with Zinfandel or Malbec"

Julian Wine & Chocolate's Albert Lewis remembered, "A sweet and fruity chocolate with an earthy (as opposed to fruit forward) dry wine."

Donna Henrickson of Little Washington Winery said, it was a "Milk chocolate with big bold dry red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon / Tannat." [The] "wines acidity and tannin can clash with the creaminess and subtle flavor nuances of chocolate."

How do you source your chocolate?

Donna Henrickson of Little Washington Winery describes her practice as, [we] "start with the cacao bean and don't strip anything out."

Albert Lewis of Julian Wine & Chocolate sources his chocolate with the philosophy of, "My first priority is using a local chocolate maker that uses healthy and natural ingredients. Organic and fair trade chocolate is always preferred."

Conclusion

As you can see, there are lots of great ways that Wine & Chocolate can live in harmony & even compliment one another, but it can also go very wrong if you do not plan ahead. Donna Henrickson of Little Washington Winery says that they opened their "Wine Loves Chocolate" store locations specifically to disprove the experts who said chocolate is one of five foods on the planet that does not go with wine. Well after talking to loads of winemakers, several store owners & interviewing the people I quoted in this article, I can safely say that Wine does indeed pair with Chocoloate when you use your knowledge & play to your personal preferences.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Albert Lewis, Donna Henrickson, & Suzanne Oakley for taking time out of thier busy Holiday Season schedules to help me answer this Wine Pairing question. I know I will be using the advice I received over the Christmas Holiday at family & work functions to help others explore wine + chocolate together.

Please visit these wonderful vendors to place your next chocolate order to have with that next great bottle of wine you plan to open, and don't be afraid to ask them for some suggestions of some confectionart treats to enjoy. Cheers!

Julian Wine & Chocolate: julianwineandchocolate.com
Little Washington Winery: wineloveschocolate.com
Experience: CHOCOLATE: experiencechocolate.com