Happy Easter - Chocolate and Wine principals

Happy Easter!

Easter Sunday is just all about the chocolate. This year we paired our Cadburys Dairy Milk with our wine of week, the 2017 Domäne Wachau Riesling Federspiel from Austria. The slight sweetness of the wine paired perfectly with the chocolate and felt very decadent.

Chocolate can be tricky to pair and is very subjective. There are some rules we tend to stick to - so here are our top tips for pairing, but remember to experiment and find your ideal pairing.

Dark Chocolate:

Principal: The darker the chocolate, the darker the wine.

Think 70% dark chocolate with Cabernet Sauvignon or even a Barolo. The chocolate will soften the tannins in the wine and you’ll experience a smoother fruitier burst of flavour.

Milk Chocolate:

Principal: Sitting in between white and dark, you can experiment a lot more here

A fuller bodied white wine, that offers some bold flavours can still stand against milk chocolate - just like our Riesling, or a Viognier. Sparkling wine with a little hing of residual sugar (Demi-Sec) also works really well, with the acidity cutting through the fat in the wine. However when it comes to pairing milk chocolate desserts nothing beats tawny port for a real treat.

White Chocolate:

Principal: Go for lighter, sweeter wines that allow the creaminess of the chocolate to shine through

Fruity, sweeter wines can be paired with white chocolate and will elevate flavours in the chocolate that aren’t normally there. Try a Rosé with some white chocolate buttons and some fresh strawberries for a summer treat.

Let me know your best chocolate and wine pairings!