Wine and chocolate paired together? They're natural companions. Both have complex flavors and notes, both have similar components and nuances in common. A wine and chocolate pairing follows the same kind of process as a wine or chocolate tasting, except you taste both together.
How to Team Up the Pair:
Examine the attributes of the chocolate, and follow the same steps as you would in a classic chocolate tasting. That includes noting the aroma, listening for the snap when you break it and checking the shine and glassiness. Before tasting it, though, take the same notice of wine. Now take a sip of wine, notice the wine's complexity now take a smell bite of chocolate let it sit on your tongue, when it just begins to melt, sip the wine again and swirl together with the chocolate.
Flavors to Expect:
Just like in a chocolate or wine tasting, the flavors are released in stages. The first notes should be filled with fruity acidity (from the grapes in the wine and the cacao bean in the chocolate). Watch the flavors that unfold in this middle stage, and look for a sweetness stage. The finish should be identified by tannins, flavor notes common to both wine and chocolate.
What to Pair:
Pair lighter chocolates with lighter wines; darker chocolate with full-bodied wines. Go from light to dark in your tasting session. Lighter chocolate doesn't refer to white and milk versus dark, but the overall flavor of the piece. Dark chocolates with delicate genaches, for example can be lighter in flavor than white or milk chocolate filled with intense caramel or with spicy or nut centers.
Pairings For Dark,, Bittersweet and Semi-Sweet
Zinfandel, Syrah, Tawny Port, Armagnac, Cognac (If you're looking to pair up Cab Sav, Pinot Noir or Sangiovese they should be well-aged to suitably pair with darker chocolate)
Pairings For Milk Chocolate and White Chocolate
Merlot, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Dessert Wines
More Pairings break from tradition and try these different pairings of Beer/Chocolate, Coffee and Chocolate and even the unlikely match that many have sworn by Tea and Chocolate.
No comments:
Post a Comment