Pairing chocolate and wine: not something I really considered. I’m from the “drinking and sweets don’t mix” school, for me that combination was just asking for trouble and a headache. Then I read about a “Classic pairing” of Sauterne and pâté de foie gras, which I love, so next time I was in Paris I made a point of ordering both for an appetizer. I felt like a sissy ordering a sweet wine, but I have seen the light.
So why, prey tell, bring that up now? The Swiss are the #1 consumer of chocolate, over a kilo per person each year (although the tourist trade certainly skews those numbers), and the third largest per capita consumer of wine. Hell, I’m surrounded by it.
In the US too, tastes have matured, consumption of quality wine is continuing to increase, and on the chocolate front too. Godiva, one of the quality chocolate producers in Europe, until 1992 only offered a "sweet" blend for sales in the US. Today the darker, richer variety is also available.
Chocolate and Wine Basics
So, the basics: With dark chocolate (60%cocoa or better), try a late harvest riesling, merlot, cabernet, port, shiraz or zinfandel. Mmmmm
Riesling is an early ripening grape and tends to be planted toward the north, Germany is where it’s particularly well known. Late Harvest Riesling is like it sounds, the grapes are picked late, allowing the sugar to form and in some cases allowing Botrytis to form (the same as the Sauternes of Bordeaux). In some cases the grapes are left on the vine so late they freeze (Eiswein or Icewine), which also acts to concentrate the sugar. Late Harvest Riesling is a sweet, complex white wine that is a great dessert wine, fruity and floral, with hint’s of honey. Careful, you can get addicted.
Merlot made it’s name as one of the classic blending grapes, along with cabernet sauvignon, in Bordeaux wines. Merlot has been gaining US market share on its own, being more mellow, and while still complex, with soft flavors of plum and berries, it’s more approachable than some other reds we could mention. Try Merlot with Chocolate Cake.
Cabernet Sauvignon, with depth, complexity and richness, plus hints of black currant and blackberry flavors, cabernet is by rights one of the most popular wines. Cabernet goes well with dark, rich chocolates.
Port is fortified wine from the Douro Valley, Portugal. Being fortified, port is normally drunk from small glasses, in sips, until the bottle is empty (right Rod?). Anyway, Port is the most classic of the chocolate pairings.
And a macho Californian Zinfandel is another pairing with a track record.
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