It’s become trendy to pair wine with chocolate; I see these events everywhere and it makes me smile. Most are using reasonably okayish chocolate, and it’s easy to pair wine with reasonably okayish chocolate. It’s darn hard to pair wine with really good chocolate. I’ve been doing a fair number of such tastings with WineNot Boutique, an elegant little wine shop in Nashua, and each tasting is a challenge. I’ve gotten pretty good at researching the wines that will be presented so I can select a likely palate of chocolates. Last week I paired with the wines of Megan ??? of Uncrushed. Here’s how I approached the evening.
2010 Vieux Clocher Cotes du Rhone
For this traditional French rose, a delicate and fluid chocolate with a lot of cocoa butter and no rough edges. The lightly-toasted caramel notes of Valrhona’s Ivoire white chocolate elicited similar notes from the wine–one of the loveliest pairings of the evening.
2008 Anne Amie Pinot Noir
This Williamette Valley wine is aromatic with pleasant berry notes. Danta Chocolate’s Finca Los Ujuxtes 60% from Guatemala, a complex earthy layered chocolate, pulled lovely spice notes from the wine. The low acidity of the Los Ujuxtes cacao plays nicely with the brightness of the pinot noir.
2007 Baileyana Firepeak Syrah
The huge nose on this wine is followed by dark berries and gentle tannins. Valrhona’s fluid and boldly-caramelly Jivara 40% milk chocolate brought and “berries & cream” sort of feel to the wine.