By Kathleen Lisson, CSW
http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com
Last year I attended Whitecliff Vineyard and Winery's Hudson Valley Red Wine & Chocolate Pairing event. Capitalizing on the fact that wine lovers are always looking for the 'holy grail' – a wine and chocolate pairing that actually WORKS, Whitecliff offered a variety of chocolates for tasters to pair with a complete tasting of the winery's red wines.
Chocolate Wine Pairings:
I chose a piece of Cote d'OR Intense 70% Cacao, a piece of Green and Black's organic milk chocolate and two Chuao Chocolatier Choco Pods – the Modena, which is filled with strawberry and balsamic caramel, and the Picante, which is filled with spicy cabernet caramel.
Dark Chocolate and Red Wine
The winery's Beaujolais-style Gamay Noir wine was the best wine to drink with chocolate - it paired well with the dark chocolate and both flavor pods.
The Merlot and Cabernet Franc both reduced the sweetness of the dark chocolate.
Their Malbec paired fairly well with the Picante and their Bordeaux blend was all tannins and acidity when paired with the chocolates.
Best Chocolate with Wine
After tasting the chocolates and the wines together, I think that the pods did better than the chocolate pieces because the pods had creamy fillings, which coated my palate and somewhat softened the tannins.
I am looking forward to trying a light, fruity red wine, like the Gamay, with another cream filled chocolate, perhaps a chocolate covered cherry or one with a creamy center.
Find wine and food pairing advice at my website: http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com
Kathleen Lisson is a Certified Specialist of Wine and teaches wine classes in Albany, NY.
