March 2003.
The perfect pair? The lights are down and the fire is lit.
The mood is set. You even have that special treat ready that
makes this night romantic:chocolate fondue. But what to drink?
Champagne? No. Not to mention how outdated that seems, the
bubbles go straight to your head. You scan through your wine
collection and pick out one of your favorites. The chocolate
is perfect with it's rich and creamy taste and velvety smooth
texture. You reach for your wine galss and take a sip. Your
mouth dries out instantly. It's almost insulting to the chocolate
and wine to have paired them so badly. What otherwise would've
been a very good Merlot, now tastes like a you've been sucking
on a rubber band.
This has been the question of chocolate lovers for quite some
time now. What wine goes well with chocolate? Well acording
to Plump Jack's Wine retail store in San Francisco, CA, any
Port or Dessert Wine would be the best. They suggest a Banyuls,
French Port, Domaine De La Rectorie which they sell by the
1/2 bottle. This port is good with just about any kind of
chocolate. It can be consumed with Chocolate Decadence Cake
or M&M's. Another good wine is a Bonny Dune Framboise. This
pairs very well with chocolate because of it's raspberry flavoring.
Of course these wines may not be available in your area. So
the next to best thing to do is to look for any kind of dessert
wine or port with fruity flavors with high residule sugar.
But what if you don't like the taste of sweet wines? There
is always an alternative...
Cabernets are the perfect alternative to dessert wines and
ports. Cabernets pair well with chocolate because they already
have a hint of cocoa in them including blackberries and spice.
Please steer free of the Cabernets that have a lot of oak
flavor in them. The oak tends to interfere with the sweetness
of the chocolate and thus makes for a bad combination.
The science of pairing wine and food together is that there
is no science. It's all subjective and it depends on individual
taste. Yet there are those who have already gone through the
trouble of doing most of the research.
•www.WineBrats.org
•www.PlumpJacks.com
•www.Wine.com
Written By: Vivien Buhain
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