Don’t let any idiots fool you: chocolate and wine do mix, no matter what others say. If you pair the right type of chocolate with the right type of wine, the combinations will come out delightfully perfect. And if you like chocolately desserts, you’ll find they’re even better with a nice glass of wine. Stay tuned, here are some tips to ensure you have the right wine with the right chocolate.
Intensities
Chocolate has a natural bitter taste. The darker the chocolate, the more bitter it will be due to the higher concentration of cacao and lower sweetness levels. When you pick chocolates to pair with wines, remember that any chocolate over 80 percent cacao will have a bitter taste that will not mesh well with wine. Instead, opt for more mellow chocolate to enjoy with your drink.
Picking Your Wine
It’s super important to choose a wine with low tannins because of chocolate’s natural bitterness. High tannin wines clash with darker chocolates because tannins highlight bitterness, making the pairing gross. In vino, tannins are the bitter compounds that dry out your mouth when you sip it. They’re typically found in red wines like cabernet sauvignon or barolo.
Milk Chocolate
Milk chocolate is your safest bet when you want a vino pairing. Its higher milk and sugar content and lower cacao make it easier to pair well with wines. Recommendation: a medium bodied red like a pinot noir.
White Chocolate
White chocolate is creamy and the most mellow chocolate. Pair it with a bubbly drink like prosecco or try a sweeter rosé like pink moscato. You could also try your favorite dessert wine, which are sweeter than your typical dinner wines and come packed with flavors of dried fruits like apricot and nectarine. The intense flavors of dessert wine pairs excellently with the mild flavor of white chocolate.
Dark Chocolate
While dark chocolate may be the healthiest for you, it is the trickiest to pair with wine. The darker the chocolate, the more cacao used. With that cacao, comes more bitterness. If you’re opting for dark chocolate, we recommend you stay under 80 percent cacao. Any darker than that and the bitterness is not pleasurable, especially when escorted by vino. In order to find a great wine to pair with your dark chocolate, you should remember that big flavor pairs best with big flavor. Try pairing your dark chocolate with a full-bodied red like a merlot, zinfandel or Valpolicella Ripasso. These wines contain intense fruit and lower tannin, matching the flavor intensity of your chocolate minus adding to the bitterness.
