If you shamelessly tune into the Food Network on a nightly basis, much like ourselves, we’re willing to bet you’ve seen a few top chefs discuss how it’s necessary to pair the perfect wine with your dish to enhance the flavor of the food. We won’t doubt your knowledge, we’re sure you already know that the complexity of certain wines can seriously enhance the flavor profile of a dish. However, it just so happens that some of our favorite wines are enhanced in turn, when paired correctly, paired with chocolate that is.
When pairing wine with chocolate, it can seriously enhance and even change the flavor profile of specific wines! By keeping in mind these few rules during your next trip to Trader Joe’s (or any other market that sells delicious wine and chocolate) you can experience the effect the world’s favorite sweet treat has on vino.
First and foremost, the most important rule of thumb to follow when picking our your pairs is to make sure the wine you’re pairing is always sweeter than the chocolate you’re pairing it with. So you can easily imagine that white and milk chocolates aren’t as effective as the dark chocolates with higher percentages of cacao.
Next keep in mind that color is your key! The darker the wine, the darker the chocolate you should look to pair it with. White chocolate will only bring out the flavors in a lighter sweet white wine such as a Moscato, whereas dark chocolates with 70% + cacao are much better with a Cabernet Sauvignon or Malbec.
The one last guideline we recommend taking into consideration before enjoying multiple chocolate and wine pairings is to start off tasting light and work you way to the dark side, just like you would with any other wine tasting. Also it’s important to sip the wine first and observe it’s flavor profile on it’s own, then taste it again with the chocolate to see how it impacts your tasting notes and changes the flavor of the wine.
By following these few basic rules we’re sure you’ll find a chocolate and wine duo that really tickles your fancy. However, if you would like a little extra guidance use this BRIX Chocolate for Wine Guide to discover what specific blends match well with what chocolate. In the end the Chocolate Factory is your playground and the Wine Shop is your oyster, so really have fun with it!