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| Pairing Wine With Chocolate For Your Next Party. |
Tips For Pairing Wine With Chocolate For Your Next Party.
Both chocolate and wines are pleasures none can deny. The intensities, varieties, and flavors can be quite comprehensive in either of them. To combine them successfully, you need to choose the right combination of the wine and the chocolate, so that it is extremely pleasurable for your palate while having the right texture. But doing it wrong may also leave a bitter taste in your mouth. This is so because both wine, as well as cocoa used in chocolate, have antioxidants and polyphenols that have a bitter taste. There are many other considerations to follow as well when you are looking for a perfect combination that you can enjoy on your vacation, holidays, parties, or romantic evenings.
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| Avoiding the doubling up of antioxidants |
7 Tips to Pair Wine and Chocolate
1. Be aware of the anti-oxidants
The first thing that you should keep in mind while combining wine and chocolate is avoiding the doubling up of antioxidants. While antioxidants are good for health, the excess of anything can be bad for your health as well as your palate.The darker chocolate is the one that will carry the greatest bitterness. Wines high in tannins, including the Malbec or the Cabernet Sauvignon, when combined with the dark chocolates, can be very bitter.
Also, the highly acidic champagnes like the Brut Champagne should be the last thing you would like to use because acidity will ruin the chocolate entirely. Remember that the white wines go well with the milk chocolates while red wine makes a perfect pair with dark chocolates.
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| Enjoying time with friends |
2. Choose the Sweeter Option.
The best and sweetest drink that will make for an enjoyable combination includes Sherry and Port. Mango Rita is another drink that is the best sweet option available for people who don’t prefer wine.Wines that are harvested late, including the red blends and the ice wine (among other white wines) can also be good for the preparation. These sweeter wines can be lavishly enjoyed with authentic dark chocolate, rich in antioxidants.
3. Match the Intensity.
If the sweet wines are not your preference, you can prepare the full-bodied wines with the stronger chocolates and the lighter wines with light chocolates.For instance, here are some examples of how wine and chocolate can be paired:
- Milk chocolate or a chocolate truffle: fruit Merlot, Madeira, Pinot Noir, and other similar wines can be paired with the milk chocolate or a chocolate truffle having the ganache center.
- White chocolates: combine well with the Moscato, ice wines, Cream Sherry, and other wines.
- Dark chocolates: go well with Sherry, Port, Shiraz, and Zinfandel.
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| Match the intensity |
4. The Party Combination.
If you are hosting a wine and chocolate pairing party, you need to choose the chocolates (that you wish to showcase) and the wines carefully.The white wines fermented with frozen grapes are expensive while Moscato’s is an economical one.
When you serve single wine and chocolates as a dessert, Sherry can be a good option, as it combines well with all kinds of chocolates. Gifting a chocolate box to your visitors to leave a splendid impression on them for
when they reach home.
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| When you serve single wine and chocolates as a dessert |
5. Tasting
It is important to taste the wines and to know how exclusive and refreshing they can be for the guests.- For sampling and tasting the wines, the established order is “dry to sweet”.
- The order can also be from the light-bodied to the full-bodied wines.
- When you are tasting chocolates, the established order is from white, milk, and then dark, or from sweeter to bitter.
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| Light-bodied to the full-bodied wines. |
Some of the more specific combinations and tips regarding the wine and chocolate combinations are given below.
6. Choosing the contrasting tones.
Combining the nutty tones and caramel with wines like Madeira and Port is ultimate decadence. The silkiness that comes to your mouth is derived from the soft tannins and the short finish. Some of the notable Merlot brands here include the NorthStar Winery and the Winn Winery. Rest assured as the blueberry and the plum will make it exotic and memorable.If you want to use dark chocolate and make it more classic, try the wines like Amarone Della Valpolicella and Mavrodaphne of Patras. Any other wine with a good concentration of sweet fruits or the aromas of caramel, dried fruits, and nuts will also help in making the best combination.
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| Cheers |
7. Muting the bitterness.
Wines with different sweetness levels can balance the bitterness and can also add the fruit and/or the spice elements to make the combination joyful and enriching. The dark and white chocolates can be combined with the Bugey-Cerdon wines that can bring a delicious red fruit flavor to your combination. Renardat-Fâche and Patrick Bottex are some of the popular producers. |
| Dinner time |
When looking for a wide range of wine flours at value prices, you can try the Banyuls wines. These wines are also known by the name French Port and have been in consumption for around 800 years now. The flavors include prunes, chestnut, dried apricot, caramel, orange zest, and black cherry among others.
You can also make other food additions to your party. For instance, wine and cheese are popular combinations. Cheese is as natural as chocolate and wine. There are ample combinations available to influence your palate. For instance, cheddar cheese combines with milk chocolates while Swiss cheese is a better option for white chocolate.
Author: “Jessica Smith has been writing for a few years now. She is a writer by day and reader by night. She was a very quiet child but writing always inspired her and that is why she began writing in her free time. She loves reading, be it a newspaper, a book, or anything. She also loves cooking, traveling, and dancing. Writing is her passion.”
Inveigle Magazine