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What to drink with venison and chocolate sauce

Being Easter it’s not surprising that there’s a focus on chocolate in the press today though I’m not sure how many of us would be bold enough to serve venison with chocolate sauce to our nearest and dearest as Mark Hix has done in the Independent today.

In fact the dish is less way out than it sounds. The dark bitter chocolate (Hix advocates using a 100% Venezuelan black) simply giving what would otherwise be a relatively straightforward red wine sauce a rich velvety texture and intensity it wouldn’t otherwise have. It needs a characterful wine to stand up to it though. I’m guessing something like a powerful Californian Cabernet, a Zinfandel or a Petit Verdot. Or a porty Douro red.

For more mainstream chocolate pairings turn to the Telegraph where their wine correspondent Jonathan Ray has come up with five recommendations for a range of Fortnum and Mason’s chocolates that include a raspberry beer, a fortified Malbec and an armagnac.

The selection also includes one of my all-time favourite wines with chocolate, Andrew Quady’s Elysium, an exotically scented sweet red wine that reminds me of Turkish Delight (for UK stockists check the feature).

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