Chocolate & Wine

Wine and chocolate, a combination that goes back 100s of years and yet when we mention it now or see these pairings being offered in restaurants we tend to cringe in disbelief or be wowed by the concept, but the proof is in the pudding 😉 On their own they are the guilty pleasures of millions of people, but with both having their own intense flavours matching them takes a bit of imagination and a lot of practice.

There are some wines that, without adding flavourings, on their own do give us aromatic notes of dark chocolate, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz and Tempranillo are three that come to mind, the intensity will depend on their ageing. Some wineries will even smoke their barrels before the wine is added which will give the wine other characteristics coffee, caramel and dark chocolate notes which usually get stronger after a while in the glass.

Chocolate is no different, the intensity of the taste depends on various factors, where the cocoa bean originated from, how the chocolate is cooked, what ingredients are added, these and other factors will ultimately affect the flavour and texture. If you are going for an actual chocolate and wine pairing then I suggest you go for good quality artisan chocolates, these usually have less or no artificial ingredients added. Generally, I would go white wine with white or milky chocolates and reds with almost 80% dark chocolate. 

Try these wines together with Binky’s Chocolate bars

Fernway Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand – £10.40 with Binky’s white chocolate, cranberry and coconut bar

Saronsberg Shiraz from South Africa – £ 28.75 with Binky’s Brownie and caramel bar

Montebaco Caranorte Tempranillo – £ 18.50 with Binky’s chocolate caramel crostinis.