How to Pair Wine and Chocolate

Chocolate, the food that is craved more than any other in the United States, is the perfect mate for wine. The two together make the perfect gift for any occasion, for man or woman. Whether it is a housewarming gift, an anniversary gift, a birthday gift, or a gift for Valentine's Day, it is the perfect gift when you want to make someone feel special. But how do you know what wine goes with what chocolate? Many people say it is difficult to pair wine with chocolate, but it is not. At least it is not too difficult if you know the basics.

At least my basics. I am not an expert by any means, but I do love wine and I do love chocolate, and I do love them together, so in my world that makes me sort of an expert!

The first thing you need to know is that the chocolate should not be sweeter than the wine. We all know what it is like to take a drink of something after eating a bite of something sweet. It will do the same thing to your wine. A bite of a chocolate that is sweeter than your wine will make your wine taste bitter, and this is not what you want. In my opinion, dark chocolates are the easiest chocolates to pair with wine, obviously because they are not as sweet. When using dark chocolate you can match these with the more intense, full-bodied wines. If you prefer the sweeter, lighter chocolates, these go better with the lighter bodied wines. Because dark chocolate is itself a little bitter, it works better with wines that are little on the bitter side.

Bittersweet, semisweet and dark chocolates go better with red, fruity wines.

Milk chocolates go much better with white dessert wines with apricot or peach flavors.

White chocolate, which is not a true chocolate, but loved by many, works great with Champagne, or a Riesling.

Here are some of my personal choices:

Dagoba Organic Chocolate - dark 59% is a great dark chocolate to pair with a dry, fruity red wine such as California's Wild Bunch Red . This is a surprisingly good wine, with flavors of strawberries and raspberries that complement your dark chocolate very well. These two were simply meant to go together. And, I love the label. It would make a cool tattoo!

I prefer a lighter wine, like California's Wild Bunch White Wine with lighter flavored chocolates like Godiva's assorted chocolates when presenting assorted chocolates, it is safer to go with a light wine rather than bitter, because assorted chocolates tend to be on the sweeter side, often filled with fruits and nuts. Wild Bunches White Wine is a great combination of lemon zest, honeysuckle, and orange, followed by apple and pear. These flavors all go very well with fruits and nuts. The fruit and nut fillings often have trace of salt and this is actually leads you to the sweeter wines.

Do you love caramels covered in dark chocolate? Well, try them with a glass of Blandeys Madeira Malmsey.This is a very sweet wine that has both caramel and walnut flavors. It leaves a pleasant caramel aftertaste

There are many wines and many chocolates to choose from, this can either make your choice a difficult one, or one you enjoy immensely. Just remember, if you are going to be sampling a lot of wines and chocolates, start with the lighter ones and work your way up to the darker ones. The darker ones will over power the lighter ones and you will not get a true reflection of the flavor. (I learned this from a real expert!)