{"id":22236,"date":"2025-01-26T08:12:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-26T13:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/?p=22236"},"modified":"2025-01-27T09:52:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T14:52:57","slug":"wine-chocolate-pairing-match","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wine-chocolate-pairing-match\/","title":{"rendered":"Romantic Pairing: Wine and Chocolate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Valentine's<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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In this month’s Costco Connection Lifestyle Magazine I chat with the editor about my favourite wine and chocolate pairings for Valentine’s Day.<\/p>\r\n

Here are my favourite wines for chocolate<\/strong><\/a> in liquor stores now.<\/p>\r\n

While many of us like to think we\u2019re going to be creative with our Valentine\u2019s Day gifts this year, let\u2019s be honest.<\/p>\r\n

On February 13, we\u2019re going to rush out and purchase our favourite standbys: wine and chocolate. And why shouldn\u2019t we? Everybody likes this duo; they\u2019re wildly delicious and indulgent, and they usually lead to a good time (insert suggestive eyebrow raise here).<\/p>\r\n

But what you may not know is how to find wines and chocolates that complement each other. \u201cWine and chocolate are tough,\u201d affirms sommelier Shelley Fitzgerald. \u201cPeople always think they\u2019re always the perfect pairing. They can be, but … you have to keep in mind they\u2019re two big, and strong personalities competing for the same palate space.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

The general rule for wine and chocolate pairings (stressed by all interviewed sommeliers) is to ensure your wine is sweeter than your chocolate (or dessert). Natalie MacLean, an Ottawa-based sommelier and publisher of the wine review site nataliemaclean.com<\/strong><\/a> advises, \u201cIf it\u2019s not, your wine will taste bitter in comparison.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

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\"chocolatepouredbig\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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The following are a few suggested pairings.<\/p>\r\n

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Dark Chocolate<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u201cDark chocolate has the least sweetness, the most cacao solids in it and the least sugar as well. That is the easiest to pair with wine,\u201d says MacLean. \u201cYou don\u2019t have to look for a dessert wine when it comes to dark chocolate (although you can). You could go with a very robust higher-than-average-alcohol red wine, but still dry.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

She suggested an Italian Amarone, Argentine Malbec and\/or an Australian Shiraz. \u201cAlthough all of these wines that I\u2019m mentioning, big reds, are technically dry on the sugar coat scale (dry is the least sweet), they will taste somewhat sweet (in comparison with dark chocolate) because the fruit in them is so ripe.<\/p>\r\n

Ty Fulcher, a Costco member, sommelier and owner of the bar Social, says if big reds are preferred, Zinfandel or a Syrah could work well too: \u201cGo with something that\u2019s more jammy and juicy and big and fruity, and they oftentimes have little chocolate characteristics to them.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

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\"chocolate<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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Milk Chocolate<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u201cI would not recommend any dry red wines, because the ones we just talked about will taste bitter by comparison with milk chocolate,\u201d says MacLean, who adds since milk chocolate is sweeter, your wine will need to be too.<\/p>\r\n

For milk chocolate, MacLean says you should seek flavours that would taste good in a chocolate cake, such as fruits, nuts, caramel, and even orange. A safe match? \u201cThe one sort of all-purpose milk chocolate dessert wine that I love is a tawny port,\u201d she says.<\/p>\r\n

She also recommends pairing vintage port with fruitier versions of chocolate, and Fulcher says ruby port could also work well.<\/p>\r\n

Fitzgerald notes that port complements chocolates that contain nuts, sea salt, fruits and caramel. All of the sommeliers recommended matching the notes in your wines with the elements in your chocolates.<\/p>\r\n

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\"chocolate<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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Don\u2019ts<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Each sommelier warns against pairing chocolate with Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. Fulcher explains that chocolate (especially dark) and these two wines are more acidic and tannic than their counterparts.\u00a0 \u201cA harsh and a harsh don\u2019t equal smooth and soft,\u201d he says.<\/p>\r\n

Fitzgerald adds that Chardonnay can make a bitter match for chocolate, and also warns against dry (or brut) versions of Champagne and Ros\u00e9.<\/p>\r\n

If there\u2019s time, Fitzgerald recommends doing some taste-testing before gifting a pairing, to ensure a good match. But if that\u2019s not an option, Fulcher says, there\u2019s no need to stress about a perfect pair.<\/p>\r\n

\u201cDon\u2019t let somebody tell you you\u2019re doing something wrong if you<\/em> think it tastes good,\u201d he advises. \u201cThis is all individual. From our job, we can give guidelines and our favourites, but it\u2019s all up to what you like.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

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\"Costco<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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\"Valentine's<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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Posted with Permission of The Costco Connection.<\/p>\r\n

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\u00a0<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In this month’s Costco Connection Lifestyle Magazine I chat with the editor about my favourite wine and chocolate pairings for Valentine’s Day. Here are my favourite wines for chocolate in liquor stores now. While many of us like to think we\u2019re going to be creative with our Valentine\u2019s Day gifts this year, let\u2019s be honest. On February 13, we\u2019re going to rush out and purchase our favourite standbys: wine and chocolate. And why shouldn\u2019t we? Everybody likes this duo; they\u2019re wildly delicious and indulgent, and they usually lead to a good time (insert suggestive eyebrow raise here). But what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[679,371,416,50,124,1211,10,1207,414,1220,708,1199,473,1222,3,837],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amarone-italy","category-argentina-wine","category-buying-wine","category-chocolate-wine","category-wine-dessert","category-dessert-wines","category-food-wine-pairing","category-gift-wine","category-how-to-buy-wine","category-malbec-argentina","category-shiraz-australia","category-sugar-code-wine","category-syrah","category-valentines-day-events","category-wine-articles","category-zinfandel"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22236"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63136,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22236\/revisions\/63136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nataliemaclean.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}