Wine for Chocolate

While I enjoy indulging in chocolate anytime, this article by Daniele Cernilli on drinking wine with chocolate  had  my  mouth  watering. I have  edited  it  slightly  for  clarity.

“Wine for Chocolate” by Daniele Cernilli (aka Doctor Wine)

The “sacred texts” of the sommellerie (said sympathetically, of course) until a few years ago stated that with chocolate, in all its expressions, wine could not match.

There are reasons, of course. The “latency” or taste duration of a chocolate dessert, but also of bitter cocoa, is very long and complex. There are at least three different flavors, the sweet, due to the sugar component, reinforced by the softness of cocoa butter, the bitter, typical of cocoa with high percentages, and the salty, also determined by that. Finding a wine that would hold the impact and therefore not be overwhelmed by the gustatory richness of the kind seemed very difficult if not impossible. Yet, something can be done. Indeed, some spirits, such as Cognacs and Rhums especially, are very advisable, but they are also very alcoholic, and at the end of a dinner, especially during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday season, perhaps an excess of that kind can be avoided.

Fortified reds and passito wines

Then some wines can come to the rescue. (At this point, Daniele lapses into Italian, but what he recommends is the following.)  To counterbalance the sweetness of the chocolate in a complementary wine, you would need some sweetness, smooth alcohol, and some astringent notes.  (Per controbilanciare i dolci al cioccolato ci vorrà dolcezza, morbidezza alcolica, persino qualche nota appena astringente.)  Fortified red wines and passito wines, with a pronounced sugary tendency, would be Daniele’s choice. The first wine that comes to mind is the Vintage Port, the noblest of the Ports. It is produced in Portugal’s Douro region, the grapes in the hills east of Oporto. The wines in wineries in that city and in Vila Nova de Gaia, which is south of the river. It is vinified, then before all the sugars turn to alcohol, the fermentation is stopped by adding aquavit, literally reinforcing a partially fermented must. It is aged briefly in special barrels and then bottled rather early. It reaches 19° alcohol content, maintains a very balanced sweetness and can age for centuries. Paired with a Sacher Torte it is simply delicious, especially when served at 14 degrees, almost chilled. If we opt for an Italian wine, then the choice may fall on a Recioto Classico della Valpolicella a sweet red from Corvina and Corvinone grapes with additions of Rondinella in a large majority. It will match well with a chocolate caprese cake, with a chocolate mousse, or with a chocolate salami (Not your typical salame, this one is a combination of chocolate, crushed cookies and nuts-CS).

For more or less bitter cocoa bars instead, then it will also go well with Vin Santi del Chianti Classico and of Montepulciano, both from Tuscany, or on a Vino Santo from Trentino, white, sweet, balsamic, if sugar is more evident. On a Marsala Vergine or on a Vernaccia di Oristano if, on the other hand, the cocoa concentration is higher and the chocolate saltier.

The sweeter the chocolate, the sweeter the wine.

All this is to give oneself a rule that can still be adapted to different needs, with common sense and elasticity. In Italy there are many sweet and dessert wines.

The thing to keep in mind is that the sweeter the chocolate, perhaps even milk chocolate, the more the wine will need to be equally sweet and fairly alcoholic. Less sugar will also mean the wine will be drier but still alcoholic. Precisely because of the duration of flavor that will have to outlast that of your dessert.