Match of the week

Grappa, chocolate and orange

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on January 13 2025 at 15:39

There were a lot of enjoyable wine matches in Trentino last week - the indigenous wines work really well with the local alpine food - but this unusual grappa pairing at the Campiglio Bellavista in Madonna di Campiglio was the standout combination.

The hotel regularly put out nuts and crisps with the aperitifs but when we went for an after dinner grappa they served a plate of orange slices and dark chocolate buttons instead.

I wouldn’t have imagined they would go with the grappas at all but they actually worked remarkably well as well as adding a bit of ceremony to the serving.

The two grappas we tried were the Casimiro Grappa di Solaris and the Segnana Grappa di Traminer, neither available in the UK so far as I can see. Both were delicious though I preferred the slightly more floral solaris.

The other big plus about drinking grappa which is the go-to drink of the region is that it’s much cheaper than ordering a gin or other spirit. Less than half the price, in fact!

For other chocolate pairing ideas read 3 things you need to think about when pairing wine with chocolate

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