3 things you need to think about when pairing wine with chocolate

Chocolate is supposed to be impossible to match with wine but like any other ingredient it depends on the chocolate and how it’s used.

In general I’d discourage you from serving a lighter dessert wines like Sauternes but if the chocolate flavour is not too intense and some kind of fresh fruit (strawberries or passionfruit, say) is involved it should be fine.

If you’re trying to find a wine pairing for chocolate it helps to ask yourself these three questions. (The answer may not necessarily be wine!)

What kind of chocolate?

Are you trying to match milk chocolate or dark chocolate or even white chocolate though some would argue that isn’t really chocolate at all? The lighter the chocolate - and the airier your dessert - the easier your task is. See these suggestions for chocolate mousse for example. With a chilled chocolate soufflé you could even serve a glass of bubbly, rosé champagne or sparkling wine for preference.

What are you serving with it?

Think of the fruits that match with chocolate and it’ll give you a clue as to which wines - and other drinks - work too. Cherries are great with dark chocolate for instance and would make a sweet red dessert wine like a Maury or a late bottled vintage port a good match (or a cherry beer or liqueur).

Orange and chocolate? A well-tried and tested combination. An orange-flavoured moscatel or marmaladey Tokaji will echo those flavours . Dried fruit like raisins and figs pair with chocolate too as does a figgy, raisiny sweet sherry or madeira while a chocolate dessert with nuts is a great match for a tawny port or amaretto.

(See this post on the best matches for a chocolate yule log which vary depending on the filling.)

Is it hot or cold?

A cold chocolate dessert is easier to match than a hot one, the trickiest being a molten chocolate fondant pudding. Serving it with cream or ice-cream will help but you’re still better to choose a fortified like a liqueur muscat rather a conventional dessert wine (PX sherry, I've discovered, is insanely good with warm chocolate brownies and ice cream.) Oddly enough a dark beer like a porter or imperial stout is particularly good with molten chocolate puds as you can see from this post.

Image © al62 - Fotolia.com

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Which beers to drink at Easter

You may find family and friends resistant to the idea of putting beer on the Easter table (though some will be secretly pleased) but stick to your guns.

The more your guests see how great beer is with different types of food the more confident they’ll feel about serving it themselves and the less likely it is that the only beer you’ll find when you go to their house is a Bud. So, here goes:

Turkey
Roast turkey is a very beer-friendly dish. I particularly like it with Duvel and with the Scottish golden lager Schiehallion but you could pair it with any kind of golden ale or lager such as Budweiser Budvar from the Czech republic or with a Belgian or Northern French blonde ale, the beer world’s equivalent of chardonnay. Amber ales and lagers work well too.

Lamb
Two ways to go here - you could go for a strong Trappist beer like Orval, Chimay Rouge or a French bière de garde (the equivalent of a full bodied red) or a slightly sour red ale such as Duchesse de Bourgogne (think pinot noir)

Duck
Surprisingly, given how different a type of meat it is, the beers I’ve recommended above with lamb would work with duck too. If you were feeling particularly daring you could offer a cherry or raspberry beer. Duck and cherries? Classic.

Chocolate
Better with beer than with wine, many think but I’m not sure that most beer fans favourite choice, porter, isn’t too heavy for this time of year. Again a raspberry or cherry-flavoured fruit beer could well work particularly if you serve fresh berries with the dessert

Lemon tart
I’ve already focussed on the problems intensely lemony desserts pose for wine and beer certainly isn’t any easier. Hey, why not just eat it on its own?

Eggs
A witbier, bière blanche or other light, cloudy wheat beer is generally regarded as the best match for brunch dishes. Since it’s also good with smoked and cold salmon, spring vegetables such as asparagus and salads it’s well worth having a few bottles around.

You may also find this post useful:

Which wines to drink at Easter

Image by Oscar Trompenaars from Pixabay