I own a gourmet bakery in Sodus, NY. I want to showcase a wine and dessert basket for the holiday season, but I am uneducated in the correct wines to pair with desserts. One of the desserts is a tripple fudge cake (a 3 layer chocolate cake with milk chocolate filling and frosting and dark chocolate ganache), the other is a chocolate raspberry torte and a vanilla raspberry cake. I also plan to include cherry almond cookies and chocolate cherry cookies. I'm not sure what else, I do vanilla chai cookies and cranberry almond, butter pecan, fudge stripe and sesami tahini as well as the old favorites oatmeal raisin and oatmeal chocolate chip pecan. Any ideas as to a wine or 2 that I can include with this basket?
Answer From Expert Roger Bohmrich MW
Desserts actually present more of a pairing challenge than most people assume, since the answer is not simply to pick any sweet wine. With chocolate, especially dark chocolate and fudge, avoid "dessert" wines and choose fortified sweet wines such as Port (all red types) or more uncommon options like Banyuls or Madeira (Bual & Malmsey). With desserts without chocolate containing vanilla, butter, cream or fruits, you can serve fortifieds as well as botrytis-affected wines (Sauternes, Tokaji), sweet Muscat-based wines, and various late harvest whites. The most cost-effective solution for your basket would be one half (or full) bottle of a premium Ruby Port (for example, Fonseca Bin 27 or Graham's Six Grapes) and one half bottle of a Moscato d'Asti (many brands are available). Perhaps a note card tied to the bottles to explain these pairing options might also be a good thought?
