Exploring Wine

People use wine with a variety of different foods. Not only does it taste good on its own, it helps to accentuate the taste of those foods. During a single meal, a person who really enjoyed their wine could have a small glass with the appetizer, a complimentary wine with the meal itself and a dessert wine to top off the experience. Something that many people are wondering is if wine and chocolate are a good match. The answer to this question might surprise you.

If you ask anyone that really knows their wine, they may be quick to tell you that pairing wine and chocolate is a very difficult thing to do. Perhaps it is because the tastes are just too different from each other. However, if you can pair up the right kind of wine with the right chocolate, you may have an experience that is quite delicious. Here are a few tips that will help you to make sure that you enjoy your wine and chocolate.

First, Find the Right Chocolate

First of all, you need to make sure that you pick the right kind of chocolate. Don’t bother just grabbing a Hershey bar and trying to pair it up with a glass of wine, that won’t work well at all. You should look for gourmet chocolate that has a distinct taste all to its own. One of my personal favorites is Belgian chocolate, one of the best chocolates made anywhere. This is no great surprise because I enjoy eating Belgian chocolate even without any wine. At any rate, you need really good chocolate if you are going to pair it with wine.

Next, Select the Right Wine

Next, if you’re going to mix wine and chocolate you need to make sure that the wine is at least as sweet if not sweeter than the chocolate you are eating. If not, you will have a rather unsavory combination and will join the ranks of those that say it cannot be done. By using a very sweet wine, however, you can add a lot to the taste of the chocolate and have an enjoyable combination. When I first heard this, I was really surprised. It seems that you have to think outside the box if you want to pair wine and chocolate.

Once you get the hang of it, you can add wine to your chocolate tasting, regardless of the kind of chocolate you are eating. By picking the right kind of wine, you can bring out the flavor of dark chocolate, white chocolate and even milk chocolate. Even though it may take a little bit of experimenting, you will have an enjoyable time coming up with the right combination.

Other Resources

If you want to learn how to pair wine and chocolate, you might want to consider subscribing to the The Chocoholic – Wine and Chocolate Club Membership. This Crown Valley Winery club send a carefully matched bottle of red or white wine and a container of gourmet chocolate each month.

If you want to give a gift of wine and chocolate that is sure to delight and impress, look no further than Vosges Haut-Chocolat. You will find a wide assortment of superb chocolates and tempting gift boxes of wine and chocolate. Just the pictures on the website are enough to make you want to buy the gift boxes for a special occasion like New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day. Be sure to read the article about "How to Eat Chocolate." It seems that chocolate connoisseurs are just a fussy are wine buffs. The downloadable Sensory Wheel (pdf) is meant for comparing chocolates, but could be adapted for wine.

Related posts:

• No Related Post