Let me start by saying that you should drink the wine you like with what you like to eat and therefore, should probably take someone’s wine pairing suggestion with a grain of salt[y chocolate]. I actually think that plain chocolate goes with most wine. And by plain I just mean milk chocolate and the various degrees of dark chocolate. I just really like chocolate and wine.
I recently visited the Lindt outlet in Carlisle and thought it would be fun to pair the Long Shot wines with the myriad of flavored truffles. Our naive expectations were that all the truffles would go more or less with every wine, and this would be a silly game, were we just make up what is “best” with what. And we were very wrong. Very, very wrong.
While we stand by the idea that most wine goes with most plain chocolate, flavored chocolate is a whole different beast. Example: Chambourcin wine and orange chocolate do NOT go together. Kinda like the pair of friends you have that you never invite to the same event. Chambourcin wine is best with just plain dark chocolate truffles. We also thought that really sweet wine, like Concord, worked well with salty truffles.
But there were a few wines that were really enhanced when paired with flavored chocolate. For instance, Vidal Blanc wine pairs well with citrus in general, so it was natural to try the Valley Blush wine, which is a blend with Vidal Blanc, with orange chocolate. Wow. We were all pretty shocked at the outcome. Similarly, the Vidal Blanc wine and citrus truffle are absolutely splendid together.
- Concord and sea salt
- Chambourcin and dark chocolate
- Chardonel and almond
- Vidal Blanc and citrus
- Blackberry and extra dark or hazelnut
- Fletched and coconut or strawberry
- Chambourcin Rose and white chocolate (strawberries and cream anyone?)
- Valley Blush and orange
- Winter Blend and salted caramel
Nota bene: blueberry truffles hated all wine pairings. At least in our mouths.
posted by Anja Weyant
