How to pair wine and chocolate?

Guilherme Corrêa Dip WSET

Grapes and cocoa, one likes temperate climates and the other tropical climates, but both have varieties and clones, reflect the characteristics of the place where they were planted and, after being fermented and worked by human genius, satisfy our spirit with wine and chocolate. Tasting them side by side is an indulgence that can be memorable, as long as we pay attention to a few details.

The characteristics of chocolate for pairing purposes

Chocolate is a visually challenging food, comforting and complex in its aromas, voluptuous in its texture, and addictive in its goodness. Originating from the fermentation and roasting of cocoa beans, sometimes with added sugar, milk and vanilla, the main ingredients of modern chocolate, it develops an impressive palette of aromas, which can include around 1,500 olfactory compounds. Depending on the “terroir” and the cocoa variety, as well as the manufacturing process, the descriptors can range from the fruity notes of blueberries or the citrus notes of grapefruit, or dried fruits such as figs, dates and plums, nuts, various spices, sweet or pungent, woody impressions of cedar or pine, floral notes of clove and rosemary, roots such as licorice, or bakery and cereals, or sugarcane derivatives such as molasses, or empyreumatics associated with roasting, among many others.

The composition of a standard milk chocolate is around 50% sugar and 35% fat (best when this comes from cocoa butter itself), making it an assertive source of energy and a captivating mouthfeel. Logically, dark chocolates have a higher percentage of cocoa liqueur - not the alcoholic liquor, but a thick paste obtained by grinding the meat of cocoa beans (nibs) - and can vary from slightly bitter (35 to 50% cocoa liquor) to very bitter (75 to 85%, sometimes even more).

All this aromatic richness, sweetness and ability to coat the palate with melting fat imposes a certain approach when choosing the wine to pair with chocolate, regardless of its many different forms and preparation possibilities. The school of sommeliers teaches us that 1. the level of structure of a wine must match the level of structure of the dish, in this case, powerful. It also proclaims that 2. the level of sweetness of a food must be supported by the level of sweetness of the wine, so that the latter does not expose the harsh side of the latter and remains intact in balance. Both partners, wine and food, 3. must be equally complex and persistent, with harmonized olfactory profiles, and 4. the bitterness (the sensation of hardness of the chocolate) finds comfort in the sweet-alcoholic-glyceric smoothness of the wine. Finally, that 5. the main fat in chocolate, cocoa butter, solid at room temperature but liquid at human body temperature, has its opulent unctuousness offset by a high alcohol content - or tannins, although these may clash with the bitterness of the chocolate - of the wine chosen.

For the Portuguese, more than for any other people, it is easy to understand which style of wine is intense, powerful, complex, alcoholic, sweet, smooth and persistent, isn't it?

The champion typology of the generous or fortified

Therefore, we must avoid dry, light-bodied wines with chocolate at all costs, so as not to violate the following rules of pairing: give structure to structure and sweetness to sweetness. In terms of aromatic profile, normal, non-oxidative whites and rosés do not speak the language of this delicacy, which is also darker in its spectrum of aromas.The winning typology is undoubtedly that of red wines or wines that are clearly oxidative, fortified with alcohol and with residual sugar. Some rare exceptions will be discussed below.

Dark chocolate

The richer in percentage concentration of the paste obtained from grinding the meat of cocoa beans, the cocoa liqueur, the chocolate should contain less sugar and also more intensity of flavor and bitterness. We should then increase the wine's richness. Within the universe of Port wines, for example, we could taste a Ruby Reserva with 50% cocoa chocolate and propose an “upgrade” to a Late Bottled Vintage with 75% chocolate. Here we must be careful with chocolates above 75%, which can be very concentrated and bitter, and while they call for concentration in wines, the taste sensation of hardness and “bitterness” can clash with the tannins of a very structured example, such as a young Vintage Port.

Milk chocolate

Milk chocolate should generally contain at least 14% of some form of milk in its composition: fresh milk, powdered milk, condensed milk, cream, butter or milk fat. The concentration of dry cocoa matter is lower than in dark chocolate, and the sugar content should be higher. Less aromatically rich and less concentrated in cocoa, although decidedly sweeter, this most consumed form of chocolate almost completely eliminates dry wines. Within the Port typologies, we can move between the basic Ruby and Tawny, and in this family we can reach a Tawny with an age indication of 10 years, when the chocolate is more intense.

The non-white chocolate

Technically, white chocolate does not contain cocoa liqueur and therefore does not have the legal minimum dry cocoa content. It is made from cocoa butter, sugar and at least 14% dry milk content. Although it is not exactly chocolate, the laws of pairing also work differently here. Especially very sweet, this “negative” version of chocolate rules out any dry wine. But as it does not have the complex profile and dark spectrum of aromas of real chocolate, some late harvest white wines, botrytis, late or fortified muscats, rosé Ports, or even sparkling wines in the “doux” category, above the “demi-sec” and sweetness, can work. One of the best late harvests in Portugal, the excellent Casal Sta. Maria Petit Manseng, is divine with a white chocolate mousse with pineapple jam, but it would hardly be a dream match with any dessert based on dark chocolate.

Chocolate Desserts: The Ruby Family

We sommeliers like to create rules that make it easier to choose wines to pair with when we are in a rush or under pressure, which is typical of our profession. In terms of chocolate-based desserts, a simple dichotomy is to separate them into those that pair well with fortified wines that have similar expressions of black/red fruits, typical of a Ruby Port, or those that pair better with more oxidative, Madeiran fortified wines with dried fruits, such as those found in a Tawny Port.

● If we have these elements in the dessert: dark chocolate, wild berries, strawberries, cherries, lychees, fresh fruit covered in chocolate, red flowers, red pepper, red wine, Kirsch (distilled from sour cherries), mint, licorice, more balsamic and pungent spices such as juniper.

● Examples: Black Forest Pie with cherries; Óbidos Ginja Cake; Fondant moelleux au chocolate noir (chocolate cupcake with fondant inside); Chocolate fondue with fresh fruit; Pear cooked in red wine with spices covered in melting dark chocolate; Dark chocolate brownie; Dark chocolate ice cream.

● Wines to choose from:
Ruby Port
Porto Ruby Reserve
Crusted Port
Late Bottled Vintage Port
Single Quinta Vintage Port
Vintage Port
Banyuls Rimage (France)
Maury “Vintage” (France)

Chocolate Desserts: The Tawny Family

● If we have these elements in the dessert: milk chocolate, chestnuts and almonds in general, marzipan, caramel, honey, cane molasses, maple syrup, cream, eggs, coffee, rum, raisins and sultanas, roasted or jammed orchard fruits, jammed or candied citrus fruits, apricots, coconut, sweeter spices such as vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg;

● Examples: Sacher torte with apricots; Chocolate cake with walnuts; Chocolate with salted caramel; Gianduia or Nutella torte; Chocolate cake with coconut; Almond praline covered in chocolate; Chocolate and coffee soufflé;

● Wines to choose from:
Tawny Port
Tawny Port with age indication 10, 20, 30 or 40 years
Harvest Tawny Port
Bual Madeira 5, 10, 15 years, Harvest or Frasqueira
Madeira Malmsey 5, 10, 15 years, Harvest or Frasqueira
Carcavelos
Moscatel de Setúbal 10, 20, 30 and 40 years
Moscatel Roxo de Setúbal 10, 20, 30 and 40 years
Jerez Cream (Spain)
Jerez Pedro Ximenez (Spain)
Malaga (Spain)
Montilla-Moriles Pedro Ximenez (Spain)
Banyuls with the exception of Rimage (France)
Maury with the exception of the “Vintages” (France)
Rasteau VDN (France)
Rivesaltes Tuilé VDN (France)
Marsala semi-dry or sweet (Italy)
Commandaria (Cyprus)
Rutherglen Muscat (Australia)
Rutherglen Topaque (Australia)

Any chance for the unfortified ones?

Interestingly, some wine pairing professionals like and suggest pairing dark chocolates, which are therefore less sweet, with some dry, non-fortified reds that are generous in alcohol and smoothness. This sommelier himself has had some positive experiences with an alcoholic North American Zinfandel, or with a “fruit bomb” style Pinot Noir from the New World, which is not at all acidic or austere in tannins, or even with a Primitivo with this balanced profile geared towards smoothness, from the Italian Apulia. In Portugal, similar results can be achieved with some alcoholic red wines, with very ripe fruit and notable smoothness, from the Setúbal region.

In some desserts based on chocolate and red fruits or flowers, but necessarily very delicate in structure, certain aromatic and sweet red sparkling wines can surprise, such as a floral Brachetto d'Acqui or an explosively fruity Lambrusco Reggiano Dolce, both Italian, and even a dry wine that is generous in fruit such as an Australian Sparkling Shiraz.

Wines of the category passified or passiti, very typical of the Italian peninsula, also have a strong character and alcoholic strength to stand up to richer chocolate desserts. Great examples are Valpolicella Retreat from the Veneto region (Ruby family desserts) and Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice (Tawny family desserts).

But since we are in the world champion country in the typology of fortified wines, why not bet on the already consecrated union of body and soul of these wines rich in history and flavor with the intoxicating chocolates?