With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I thought it would be fun to share some information about chocolate and wine pairings. Valentine’s Day is all about chocolate! If you taste some of your favorites with a nice glass of wine, it makes the experience even better and more fun! Yes, Valentine’s Day is also about flowers, dinner, and romance but what’s better than sampling some different types of chocolate with delicious wines? Yum!
So, here are some guidelines before you taste together with some pairings that will get you into the Valentine’s Day mood. Isn’t chocolate an aphrodisiac? I think I heard that somewhere…
When you taste, the idea is to match flavor profiles:
- Match sugar with sugar. Sweeter chocolate will pair well with sweet or off-dry wines.
- Match intensity with intensity. Delicate flavored chocolate will be overwhelmed by heavy, full bodied wines. Strong flavored chocolate will overpower a delicate wine. Keep the two in balance and you’ll have a great combination.
- Match flavors with flavors. The flavors in chocolate can enhance the flavors in the wine and vice versa. Pair like tastes. Chocolate can have a fruity aspect to it so bone-dry wines do not typically pair well with chocolate. Stick with fruit forward wines.
With these matching profiles in mind, let’s jump into the most common pairings.
White Chocolate:
- White wine-Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Moscato, Ice wines
- Red wine-Pinot Noir, Beaujolais
Milk Chocolate:
- White wine-Riesling, Sparkling Rosé
- Red wine-Port, Lambrusco, Pinot Noir, Merlot
Dark Chocolate:
- Red wine-Port, Zinfandel, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon (semi-sweet), Syrah
Tasting Notes step-by-step:
Step 1: Smell and taste the wine to understand the aromas and flavors, and then do the same with the chocolate. Taste from light to dark chocolate.
Step 2: Take a bite of the chocolate, and then take a sip of the wine to see how the two play off each other. Let them melt together in your mouth. This experience can be very tantalizing.
Step 3: Like what you taste and how it makes you feel? Go ahead and repeat it. It’s Valentine’s Day after all!
These are just some suggestions for your chocolate and wine pairing. So, go for it! See what tastes best for you and your palate. We all taste and experience things differently but it’s good to have some guidelines. Have fun with it. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Enjoy!