Pure Indulgence

With all of the left over chocolate from the Valentine's Day you may want to consider hosting a chocolate and wine pairing evening. I’ve recently done the same for a group of 17 people (though I would strongly recommend having a smaller group – as some of the chocolate friendly sweet wines come in small bottles of 200ml and 350 ml and cost twice as much as a “regular” sized bottle, hence it makes for a steady hand and keen eye to stretch that liquid gold around to a group of 17!

The results of the evening’s gustatory experience only confirm my initial thoughts when it comes to chocolate and wine pairing (and wine and food pairing in general) - there are classic tried and true matches and theoretical perfect pairings, however our taste preferences vary enormously. The same goes for wine tasting – I’m amazed at all of the different terms people use to describe the same wine. I’ve been to wine tastings where I often wonder if my glass has somehow gotten switched and that I’m drinking a different wine than the person sitting next to me. In the end it really is a matter of personal taste - de gustibus non est disputandum!

Wine & Chocolate Pairing 101

1. Wine must be perceived as sweeter than chocolate.

2. Wine must be rich enough to stand up to the richness & mouth coating qualities of the chocolate.

3. Look for similar flavours in both wine and chocolate.

The Tasting

1.White Chocolate paired with 2007 Nugan Estate Chardonnay , Australia $18 I would never typically select a dry white table wine to serve with something sweet, but this wine had enough residual sweetness, ultra ripe fruit and the same creamy smooth texture and vanilla/caramel notes as the white chocolate. A surprisingly good match – the chocolate made the wine taste even better. The white chocolate was delicious with the Asti Spumanti.

2.Dark Chocolate with Nova Scotian Sea Salt paired with NV Terredavino “Solia” Asti Spumanti ($25) The chocolate’s salty notes were pleasantly contrasted by the sweetness in this fruity and floral Moscato based bubbly. Great match!

3. Dark Chocolate infused with lemon zest and black peppercorns paired with 2006 Jost Vidal Icewine, Nova Scotia ($39 - 350ml) Another atypical pairing, but I wanted to try something new. I would normally avoid dark chocolate and ice wine, saving the latter for lighter, more delicate fruit based desserts and custards, but my taste buds perked up with that first sip of ice wine and bite of chocolate. The wine’s fresh and zesty flavours sing with the peppery and citrus infused chocolate. Very lemony!

4.Milk Chocolate paired with Croft 10 year Portugal ($45) The chocolate is really quite sweet and creamy. Caramel dominates and is accentuated when paired with the Tawny port. Half the group loved this pairing, while the other half preferred the Tawny with some of the darker chocolates.

5.Dark Chocolate (54% cacao) paired with Gaspereau Vineyards Reserve Port, Nova Scotia ($20- 500ml) This non-vintage fortified wine is made from a blend of local red grape varieties. It was slightly closed on the nose at first, but later opened up to reveal primary red berry fruit, herbs and spice. It was nice with the chocolate.

6. Dark Chocolate (70% cacao) paired with Michael David, 7 Deadly Zins , Lodi, California ($30) The 7 Deadly Zins is full bodied and bursting with berry fruit, pepper, spice, cocoa and vanilla. Admittedly, this is not my style of red wine – too much residual sugar, too much alcohol, too much oak….but it worked really well with the chocolate and I actually finished my glass (ok – my 1 oz sample)

7. Extra Dark Chocolate (75% cacao) paired with 2004 Santa Sofia Amarone, Veneto, Italy ($63) I decanted this into a juice pitcher to give it some air and then savored its deep, rich concentrated, dried fruit aromas and flavours. I can see why the Italians refer to Amarone as vino da meditazione. The pairing worked very well (for my taste), some preferred the wine with the 53% and 70% cocoa and thought that the chocolate containing 75% cocoa was too dry and bitter.

Cheers!

Alanna