Chocolate and wine and all things fine

With easter upon us it seems unfair that the kids get to have all the fun eating copious amounts of chocolate.

Let’s face it, you will surely be indulging in a few Easter eggs yourself, so it is a good time of year to have some fun matching chocolate and wine.

A food and wine pairing most people wouldn’t naturally go for but there are some excellent pairings worth trying.

White chocolate provides one of the more interesting matching partners.

It isn’t necessarily about pairing up sweet on sweet as we often do when it comes to chocolate, given than white chocolate doesn’t contain any cocoa so it also doesn’t have the bitter elements of darker chocolates, just the cocoa fat so we can branch out into some lighter red wines to bring some contrasting flavours together.

A great example is to try either a Pinot Noir or Gamay/Beaujolais. The acidity in these grapes balances out the cocoa fat, which unleashes all the bright juicy red fruits of the wine to complement the sweetness of the chocolate.

Wickhams Road Pinot Noir ($19) from the Yarra Valley would be a great option, it’s made for early consumption so there are lots of bright red berry fruits, a touch of spice and slightly higher acid to give it a fresh juicy feel.

It would be remiss of us not to include a sweet fortified wine.

Milk chocolate still has some fatty elements from the cream that is blended in with the cocoa making it quite versatile. A rule you will often hear is to make sure the wine is sweeter than the chocolate, it is a matter of degrees and your personal preferences.

Pedro Ximenex Sherry is one of the most underrated fortified wines in the world.

Many see the word sherry and instantly think it will be dry; Pedro Ximenez is anything but dry, they will typically show super ripe fig and date fruits along with choccolate, caramel, some spice and an intensely sweet/viscous mouthfeel.

Valdespino make excellent examples at $27 and $40 or for a slightly gentler introduction, the East India Solera from Lustau ($27) blends Pedro Ximenez with the drier Olorroso style to balance out and restrain the sweetness.

Finally, some thoughts for the dark-chocolate lovers. The spectrum here is broad given a dark chocolate can range from 35 per cent to 99 per cent cocoa solids, nevertheless this is a slightly more difficult match as the bitterness can be a challenge. One match that crops up constantly among sommeliers is Chinato which is an aromatised wine (think styles like Vermouth) that is made from Barolo (Nebbiolo).

Giuseppe Cappellano ($90) pioneered the style and remains the benchmark. Alternatively, a Port works equally as well, contributing sweet spice notes and fruit to balance out the bitterness of the chocolate.