Tips for Serving Chocolate and Wine

Tips for Serving Chocolate and Wine

By Ryan McMullen

Adding chocolate to the traditional post dinner cheese plate is the perfect way to give the 'sweet tooths' out there something to enjoy alongside the savoury goodies you've prepared. While this may go against the traditional idea of what you should include, there is no reason that this can't make a great compromise between sweet and savoury if you plan it well. Using a dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa is often the best way to serve up chocolate and wine when putting together a cheese plate. Other options include using fruit cheeses and dried fruit and nuts or selecting a sweet desert wine to compliment the sweet taste of regular chocolate.

Wine with chocolate characteristics

There are endless ways that wine flavours are described and chocolate is also used to describe certain characteristics and flavours in different wines. Looking for wine that has this characteristic may be another way in which you can narrow down the choice of wine that will be suitable to serve with chocolate. Adding a wine to compliment a chocolate desert or to drink alongside of chocolate may work best if that wine holds these characteristics which will reflect and enhance the flavour of the actual chocolate.

Matching different types of wine with chocolate

If you're not familiar with chocolate and wine served together, then the first thing you might look at is how to choose a wine that will most appropriately accompany the chocolate you have bought. Red wines are particularly well suited as an accompaniment to dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa, as the bittersweet taste of this type of chocolate fits well with the taste of the wine. If you are going to prepare a cheese platter and include something sweet, then the addition of chocolate is an alternative to the more usual style of after dinner chocolate. Picking cheeses with fruits such as apricot or figs will also introduce other sweeter options that will accompany the chocolate well. When served with a glass of wine this is a great way to enjoy these two indulgences at once. Nibbles such as nuts, dried cranberries or apricots and so on are also great accompaniments to chocolate and wine.

Different types of wine will suit chocolate better than others. If you have a sweet chocolate or a chocolate dessert, then desert wine that has a greater concentration of sugar will work well. This includes ice wine, raisin wine or botrytis. Fortified wine such as a Muscat which is very similar to desert wine is another option and it is ideal for those colder months. Traditional full bodied red wine can work well with a dark chocolate that is generally less sweet than its milk chocolate counterparts. Ultimately, the best way to make the perfect match is to try different options and you'll find over time that you develop a clear favourite that suits your taste.

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