Myth: Chocolate pairs very well with wine.
Image by @marcelgross_ch
Many people are shocked to hear when I say wine and chocolate don’t pair all that well. Then why, you ask, have you heard people say that? There are two kinds of people who say such a thing:
Wine enthusiasts
Chocolate enthusiasts who copy wine enthusiasts
Many people like to suggest that pairing foods/drinks is a science. That there is some sort of code or absolutes when it comes to pairing that you can memorize. Not true. Although you can use science to understand to some degree why we enjoy certain foods/drinks together, and sometimes even detect some sort of pattern to it, pairing itself is not a science. Pairing foods is an art, and subjective preferences play an enormous role in it. The development of cuisine is in a way a form of pairing, which humans have done since the beginning of time. Take for instance pasta. Pasta in Italy takes on many shapes and has many types of sauces depending on the region, the town, or even the household. Italians tend to be more traditional when it comes to what can be combined with what, how sweet the sauce can be, what ingredients should always be or never be used in conjunction with one another. Now take that Italian pasta to America, or even the Philippines, and you will see their definition of what the flavour profile of a" “ragù alla bolognese” should be. The Italians will stick their nose up to the American version, and both Americans and Italians will wonder why the Filipino version is so darn sweet, and why it came from a bag!
The point here is that individuals, regions, and cultures will decide what works with what. There is a great deal of subjective preference when it comes to combining foods, and much of that is learned. And going back to chocolate, which for our lifetime has been understood to be solely a dessert or sweet, was at one time in various regions served as an ingredient in a main savory dish be it Mesoamerica thousands of years ago or in Europe hundreds of years ago. Thanks to the craft bean-to-bar community, chocolate is now being experimented more with not only with itself, but with other foods as well.
So why do people say chocolate and wine pair well together?
Well, because they do pair well if done correctly. “But you just said…” I know, but stay with me here. You can read my research summery here which describes a fun experiment on chocolate and beverage pairings. It’s not doctrine, but a suggestion, and it suggests that in food and drink pairings the pairing will be favored more if the individual has an affinity for the drink more than for the food. So for instance, if you love brandy, you may be more likely to enjoy the pairing regardless of which chocolate it is paired with. The drink seems to play a bigger role in the overall hedonic rating for the pairing. It’s not all it suggests or observed, so give it a read as it’s quite interesting preliminary research.
The reason why people say wine and chocolate pair well is because for the most part, that basic cocoa flavour of commercial dark chocolate pairs well with many red wines. This idea is coming from the wine community. When looking to excite their consumers, adding chocolate to the wine pairing menu tends to get people intrigued. The flavours of a fine red wine can pair very well with a dark chocolate, but this is in favor of the wine. In the end, it will be the wine that comes out as the leading lady, and the chocolate as the best friend. In wine pairings, it is the wine that is supposed to shine, and the food is the supporting actor.
From a chocolate sommelier’s point of view, the purpose of a pairing should be to enjoy both foods, but really to find what works well with the chocolate. What allows the chocolate to shine and highlight its key aspects. What makes the “best friend” become the leading lady with a spinoff movie of their own. From a chocolate enthusiast’s point of view, the pairing should be what complements the chocolate and makes it the star of the show. And for many reasons, wine does not always allow fine chocolate to shine.
In the fine chocolate world - as far back as the 19th Century when Bonnat in France was really pushing the “terroir” idea of fine chocolate, all that information on terroir and chocolate was borrowed from the wine industry. You can read more about terroir and chocolate here. Even to this day, the craft/fine (whatever you wish to call it) bean-to-bar chocolate sector borrows a lot from the wine, coffee, and even cheese industry to help people better understand and appreciate the nuances of fine chocolate. To a degree that can be helpful. However, when this borrowed information is recited by those in the fine chocolate industry too much, then that borrowed information eventually becomes more of a crutch. It is used to prop up fine chocolate in order to make it fine chocolate seem more sophisticated, adult, or as important as fine wine or coffee for instance. However, fine bean-to-bar chocolate can stand on its own and is tied to a world of satisfaction and untapped discoveries beneath it. We as chocolate enthusiasts do not need to always borrow and apply what we know about wine/coffee to chocolate. And with the research available today, we can educate the public on what fine chocolate is without making it appear second rate to wine and other fine foods.
So the reason you have heard that red wine and dark chocolate work so well together is because the wine industry has found that chocolate buttresses the flavour of a good red wine, and because many chocolate enthusiasts parrot that information. If you want to highlight the chocolate itself in a pairing, there are some better options before wine that would allow the chocolate to come out on top.
So what does pair well with fine chocolate?
Keep in mind that as a basic rule, when I talk about fine chocolate my mind is focused on dark single origin type chocolate. Your 65%+ fine chocolate bars made from single region or estate cacao beans. And what pairs well with this? I will tell you.
Hot beverages to the front of the line
Fine tea (black, white, green, even flavoured like earl grey)
Tisanes (non-tea leaf hot drinks such as herbals, chamomile, etc.)
Steamed milk or milk alternatives
Plain hot water
Chocolate is a fat-based food that is solid at room temperature. If it doesn’t melt right away or well on our tongue, our flavour experience and general experience with it will not be so wonderful. This happens if you have ever eaten cold chocolate, and/or eaten it when you yourself felt cold. Having a sip of hot water (preferably filtered if your tap water has a strong taste to it) before biting and enjoying your chocolate will not only help the melt, it also warms up the chocolate and moves the aroma molecules around. As molecules heat up, they move and expand. That hot drink will help lift that heavy fatty chocolate off your tongue and get those aroma molecules dancing towards your nasopharynx where your brain will pick them up via the olfactory nerves. The hot drinks really do help heighten the flavour and really allow it to melt in the best way possible.
I love teas, and in my opinion, are probably the best drink you can pair with fine chocolate. They are delicate enough that they won’t overpower the fine chocolate flavour, but can also really work well with the chocolate flavour. For instance, a heavy deep black tea or spiced black tea would suit well an Ecuadorian or Bolivian origin chocolate bar that has more earthy/baked/woody notes to it. A plain or jasmine green tea may work well with a single origin bar with more herb/floral/honey notes. Again, it is not a science. You have to find what works for you.
Room temperature Liquors
Whiskey
Rum
Brandy
Gin
Sambuca
Gran Marnier
The list is endless really. The liquors with the higher level of alcohol as well as sugar will not impede the melt of the chocolate as much as more water-based room temperature drinks. Water and fat don’t usually marry well in the mouth. If you are into fine spirits and enjoy the array of profiles different liquors can have, then you would likely enjoy combining it with a complex flavoured fine chocolate. If the liquor is very sweet, then that will make the chocolate appear less sweet (although not necessarily bitter). If you have a sharp whiskey with lots of peat, that likely would pair much more equally with a higher percentage 80%+ dark chocolate than a 70% bar with light fruity notes that may become over powered. Again, much of it is subjection. In pairings you either want to find a common flavour that will tie them together such as a chocolate with citrus/mandarin notes paired with Gran Marnier. Flavours that are drastically different and counteract each other also work. For instance, a dark Solomon Island chocolate with heavy notes of earth, wood, and red wine might go well with a bright fruity Brandy that will both temper down the heavy notes and match a bit of the fruitiness perhaps found in the wine note of the chocolate. Any spirit or liquor that can be heated, such as a hot Irish whiskey, is also an incredible way to enjoy your beverage with some fine dark chocolate!
Craft Beer
Yes, I know I said cold and water-based drinks are not always best - but beer is different. Fine craft beers often have a nice complex flavour that pair well with fine chocolate (dark or milk). It is the carbonation that makes it work better than other chilled drinks. Although I haven’t found much science on it to back up this claim, some say the carbonation helps “lift the fat” off the tongue (a little similar to the hot beverage - but not as well as a hot beverage). The texture in the beer does seem to work with the fat in the chocolate. You will find that the chocolate (especially if not very thin, but chunky) will not melt that well on its own after you take a sip of your beer. That’s why I suggest taking a bit of the chocolate first, then a sip of the beer, then back to the chocolate. Also, rubbing your tongue in your mouth before taking the chocolate will help warm up the tongue and get it to melt better while you have those beer aromas still coating your mouth and throat.
Personally, I’m not a huge beer drinker. However, I do really appreciate how the addition of chocolate to beer can really enhance my experience of the beer overall. For me, the chocolate makes the beer better, but this is not coming from a beer enthusiast. You may find it different. Either way, I do appreciate the flavours of a quality craft beer and I do believe they work splendidly with both dark and milk fine chocolate.
Wine
So, the title was a bit misleading, I will admit. Wine is not an unreasonable beverage to pair with chocolate. I wanted to to grab your attention and break the perception that wine and chocolate are a perfect pairing. They can work very very well together. My point is that it is not often the best beverage to pair with chocolate. However, it can be done with great satisfaction. If you are a wine enthusiast, you will likely enjoy this pairing more than a chocolate enthusiast who only just likes wine but doesn’t appreciate it the way you do. As the research mentioned above suggests, it’s the individuals affinity for the beverage that heightens the satisfaction of the pairing. Therefore, if you love wine more than chocolate, you will likely enjoy this pairing much more than someone who enjoys chocolate more so than wine.
Again, room temperature is better as the cold wine will impede the melt of the chocolate, the flavour release, and the overall experience of the chocolate. And if you’re from Europe, or reckon to a time venturing through a German or Northern Europe Christmas market, you can always encourage the melt of your chocolate by sipping some wonderful mulled wine! The heat of the mulled wine will really enhance the melt and flavour release of your chocolate. And if you’re put off of the strong spices used in mulled wine, you could always create a more mildly flavoured mulled wine for the purpose of enjoying with your chocolate.
Red wines usually works better than white wines, especially when pairing with single origin dark chocolate bars. Many red wines are not chilled as most white wines are, but also the flavour profiles of red wines seem to suit chocolate better. But don’t let that stop you from experimenting with whites or rose. Again, the same holds true as mentioned in the liquor section - you find a common note in both the wine and chocolate and that can usually work, you find very contrasting notes will balance each other out. For instance, a red wine with deep cherry notes will most certainly pair well with a Papua New Guinea chocolate with strong red/stone fruit notes. A deep tannic woody merlot may benefit from a Peru bar with bright fruity or herbal notes, or even a Nicaraguan or Grenada bar with cinnamon and sweeter softer earthy notes which will temper yet continue the woody notes while contrasting the heavier darker notes.
Also remember to also rub your tongue and warm it up between sips and chocolate if you really want to improve the melt, especially if the wine is chilled.
conclusion
So there you have it. I hope I have not ruined your day by suggesting wine is not the ideal beverage to pair with fine chocolate. However, do not get me work, it works very well and works well for many people. However, consider some of the other options above, especially if you are looking for the chocolate to shine in the pairing. To read a bit more about pairings and other pairing ideas, check out my other post here, and even consider booking a chocolate tasting pairing with yours truly!