Milk chocolate délice with miso caramel ice cream and a 1987 Georgian dessert wine

I was torn between highlighting one of the many good matches with orange wine at a wine dinner at the Japanese restaurant Niju last week and this show stopping pairing of a 1987 dessert wine with a dessert of chocolate “delice’ (basically a moulded mousse) with miso caramel ice cream.

Although the dinner underlined how well Georgian wine, particularly orange wine, goes with Japanese food, especially dishes that are rich in umami you won’t be surprised that chocolate won.

The wine of course was special - a 1987 dessert wine made from Rikatsiteli called Saamo that was appropriately described as a Collectible Dessert Wine. (Not half!)

At 17% it was more similar to a sweet fortified wine so full of rich fruitcake flavours along with a madeira-like fresh acidity that was hugely impressive for a 38 year old wine.

It scored 98 points and won a Gold Medal in this year’s London Wine Competition along with the accolades of Best Wine by Quality and Best Indigenous Grape Wine of the Year

As far as I can make out it’s unavailable in the UK but if you come across it in a restaurant be sure to order it. Preferably with chocolate and miso caramel - or just plain salted caramel ice cream.