We’ve grown up with the pairing as an established cliché in American culture. But with Valentine’s Day approaching, and really any other time, try something healthier and even more sensual. How about wine and chocolate?
At first glance the pairing seems most unlikely. I found myself in that camp for some time until I put a Zinfandel to a dark chocolate cake about five years ago. Wow! Now I regularly nibble a little bit of chocolate after dinner to finish off a glass of wine.
Pairing chocolate to wine is much like pairing your dinner entre’ to the right wine. You want to balance and complement the flavors of each treat.There are some general guidelines that work in trying to find the perfect match. First, the wine should be at least a bit sweeter than the chocolate. During your experimentation, you will find some duos are great on the first bite or sip but then go sour. It takes experimentation.
Another tip is to let each totally dissipate in your mouth before going back and forth. You’ll find early on that each taste of chocolate and each sip of wine is like your first taste of the evening.
Now, some common sense advice: If you enjoy lighter and sweeter chocolates then you’re going to be looking at lighter-bodied wines. For example, if you enjoy white chocolate you might want to try a Sherry or a Muscat or perhaps even a sparkling wine.
You might want to pair a Pinot Noir, Merlot or even a German Spatlese-style Riesling with milder to medium chocolates.
If you’re ready to pair the big boys, start with chocolate at the 60 percent cacao level. Then you can experiment to see what works for your palate. At the 60 percent mark, you might want to try a Zinfandel or Syrah. If you are a big mouthful-of-flavor wine person, buy some 65-70 cacao chocolate and break out the Cabernet or any other big red wine.
My personal favorite is chocolate and Zinfandel. I like the big powerful Zins which tend to be very fruit forward with a peppery finish. They will hold up to the 60 or 70 percent cacao products. Some Zins will pair better than others. Many value priced Zins will pair best with chocolate in the 60 percent range. If you jump up in price point to around $25-$30 for a huge Zinfandel, you might want the powerful 70 percent chocolate to hold its own.
It’s not difficult now days to find good chocolate. Even grocery stores carry Ghirardelli, Dove, and other products. But as a recommendation to get started I’d suggest Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate. It’s 60 percent cacao and a fine product. Every grocery has it and the large bar is usually in the $1.80 price range. Indiana Kroger stores often have it on sale for $1 a bar.
Wine Spectator, in an issue on wine and chocolate about a year ago, singled out Special Dark as surprisingly good. You can also, of course, buy expensive hand-made truffles and live it up! There are even specialty chocolate companies that make specific chocolates for specific wines. I haven’t tried Brix but it makes three chocolate bars for wine. They’re available in Indiana at World Market and other up-scale groceries.
Start slow with small bites. Let the flavors melt in your mouth. Wine and chocolate can be a very inexpensive luxury.
Remember to check out my wine blog (www.redforme.blogspot.com) for updates on lots of different wines I’m drinking and news from the wine world.
Howard’s pick:
Renwood Zinfandel – Renwood is one of California’s best known and widely available quality Zinfandel producers. Its 2005 Old Vine Zin is a real gem at $14-$20, depending on where you pick it up. Most often, you’ll find the wine for around $15-$16. It’s nicely balanced though relatively high in alcohol at 15 percent. It’s a perfect wine for 60 percent cacao chocolate.
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