Culinary Corner

Lions has offered our tasters and our club members wine pairings with our Cabernet Sauvignon Ports , Zinfandel Port, Late Harvest Viognier, BFF, Royal Couple Zinfandel, and our two sparkling wines over the years. However, our Culinary Corner is designed to provide you with knowledge when you venture into this wine pairing arena. As a sommelier, a lot of my interest lies in finding optimal wine pairings. After all, the sum of the two is often greater than the parts. This simple guide will help you find an even footing in the world of wine and chocolate pairings. With general rules and specific examples, you’ll be on your way to the ideal pairing in no time. The first part of this sections is just an overview which will be followed by recommendations of Lions Peak’s wines paired with dark, milk, white, and flavored chocolates for special events and holidays.

Chocolate and wine are considered a timeless pairing. As with most things, pairing chocolate and wine has its nuances. A dark chocolate and a glass of bold red wine is often not going to be the best match unless the bold red wine has residual sugar. That’s not to say all red wine is off limits with dark chocolate, but you’ll want to choose wisely to enjoy the combination. Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, and Merlot, especially those made in warm climates where the fruit can ripen properly and develop sugars, are easier to match.

Dessert wines that are sweeter than the chocolate will help tame the bitterness, while coaxing out the sugar in the treat. Wines made with raisined grapes, like Lions Peak’s Late Harvest Viognier is a perfect accompaniment. The late Harvest Viognier has intense aromas due to the flavors becoming concentrated as the water in the fruit evaporates. Other dessert wines, such as, Lions Peak’s Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel Ports provide a luscious pairing with dark chocolate and chocolate desserts. Caramel chocolates can be enhanced by equally buttery and rich wines, so now’s the time to bring out the Sauternes, oaked chardonnay, and Tawny Ports.
 The key to wine pairing with chocolate desserts, sugar is the primary factor to consider. When the wine is less sweet than the food, it introduces an unpleasant contrast that often makes the wine taste more bitter.

Whether or not white chocolate is chocolate seems to be a regular point of speculation. According to the FDA, if it contains a minimum of 20% cocoa fats, it fits the bill. It is primarily made from cocoa butter, which comes from the cacao bean. Conversely, milk or dark chocolate are made by pressing the roasted beans to extract cocoa liquor, the paste that contains the flavors and aromas we typically associate with chocolate. What this means is that white chocolate has a greater fat composition than the others, which is good to note when choosing a wine pairing. Since the goal is to enhance your chocolate-tasting experience with wine and vice versa, it’s helpful to find the right balance of acidity in both regards. Milk and white chocolate tend to be creamier than dark chocolate, emphasizing more buttery notes rather than acidity.

While there are exceptions, it’s worth sticking with sweeter options for your milk and white chocolate desserts, whereas dark chocolate can tolerate a little less sweetness from the wine. There are always exceptions though, and other characteristics can make a wine be perceived as sweeter than it is, like fruitiness or a fuller body. In these cases, the actual sugar levels are just one component to consider when finding a pairing.