A Match Made in Heaven: Pairing Chocolates with Wines

Katie McVicar
Feb 10, 2016
2 min read

Finding the perfect wine to pair with your Valentine's Day chocolate is extremely important. The perfect pairing can make for the perfect night with that special someone! Luckily, Chews and Booze has brought you a simple cheat sheet for pairing chocolates with wines.

White Chocolate +

Rose or Orange Muscat

Because white chocolate tends to have a creamy, buttery taste, it pairs well with wines that will bring out the fruit flavors within the chocolate. Pairing white chocolate with a nice Rose Port will add hints of strawberry to your wine and cocoa experience, and an Orange Muscat will add hints of orange. If you are the type that loves dipping your fruit into chocolate, then this is the wine pairing for you.

Milk Chocolate +

Pinot Noir or Dessert Wines

Because milk chocolate is part cream and part cocoa, a dessert wine such as a Riesling will complement the smooth, lighter flavors. If you are enjoying a delicious milk chocolate cake, a Pinot Noir will add a ripe, red fruit light bodied experience that will drive every chocolate lover nuts.

Dark Chocolate +

Zinfandel or Cabernet Sauvignon

When pairing wine with chocolates with a high cacao content, it is important to remember that you want a wine with a robust aroma such as a Zinfandel or a Cabernet Sauvignon. Zinfandels will add a zing to your dark chocolate that will be sure to spice up your chocolatey experience. A Cabernet Sauvignon is a fuller bodied wine that makes for a natural pairing with the drier dark chocolates.

Caramel or Peanut Butter +

Sherry or Madeira

Caramel or Peanut Butter paired with chocolate combines the sweet and salty in a unique, delicious way. In order to congruently pair your chocolate with a wine, we suggest a nice Sherry or Madeira. Caramel and Peanut butter have shared compounds with these wines making them an excellent pair.