The Wine Word: Chocolate & Dessert
I like wine and I like chocolate, good chocolate and 98% of the time a darker variety. I only eat it straight up if I’m craving something sweet and I don’t have anything in the house to satiate my inherited sweet tooth (thanks dad!)
Not much is needed, just a few bites to slowly savor. But I like other sweet things to, especially a little dessert paired with a little wine- dessert wine or not. When your pick is close or right on, there is no better way to end a day.
Here are some of my favorites for pondering. Keep on the lookout for recipes from below in the future. If you feel compelled to taste the wine first, your don’t have to drive far. These wineries are from 20 minutes (Heringer Estates) to 3 hours (Solis Winery) from Sacramento.
- Cabernet with just plain dark chocolate or a rich, fudge brownie with coffee glaze icing. Try Jeff Runquist Wines “R” Cabernet Sauvignon, Colina Poca. Runquist Wines is located near the town of Plymouth in Amador County, California
- Chocolate orange cake with bits of candied orange peel and a low to medium sweet Muscat. Try Solis Winery Muscat Canelli. For a non-chocolate dessert, any Italian biscotti with nuts. Solis Winery is located in the Santa Clara Valley between Morgan Hill and Gilroy, California.
- A dollop of chocolate mousse on a sliver of angel food cake with heated orange marmalade drizzled on top. Try Quady Winery Essensia. Quady is located in Madera, California.
- Ice Wine or a Late Harvest Riesling with crème brûleé. Try Angel Ice from Jana Harvey of Scott Harvey Wines. Scott Harvey Wines is located in St. Helena in the Napa Valley.
- A medium sweet port with candied walnuts or almonds. Better yet, a slice of Maple Walnut Bread from Grateful Bread in Sacramento. Try Heringer Estates Petit Syrah Port. Heringer is located at the Old Sugar Mill in Clarksburg, California.
Have you ever been to the Melting Pot? It’s a romantic fondue restaurant where you pretty much cook your own meal in different Melting Pots. Cheeses, broth, and the chocolate for desert! My husband and I go often and desert is my FAVORITE! The mix of flavors you can bring with the wine, chocolate, and foods dipped in the chocolate…well, I can’t explain it. If you love wine, and you love chocolate, give the Melting Pot a try! You’ll thank me later!
I’m a huge chocolate lover myself. I really like how you give great suggestions for chocolate desserts (cakes, etc.)–I’ve always just kept to chocolate bars, instead of trying to match the wine with a true dessert.
I was wondering, though, if you’ve had the chance to taste some gourmet chocolates. The gourmet chocolate market is about as complicated as the gourmet wine market these days–drawing cocoa beans from specific plantations, flights of chocolates with the same % of cocoa but beans drawn from different regions of the world, etc. You could have some absolute phenomenal tastings just trying to match different types of dark chocolate to different wines, and I’d love to hear your recommendations/suggestions if you’ve had some experience with different chocolate producers.
Edmond: No kidding about the complexity of chocolates! While I’ve enjoyed gourmet chocolates, I haven’t tried many with wine, just what I’ve had on hand. A few to note were Chuao Chocolatier’s Spicy Maya Dark Bar with Jeff Runquist ’07 Paso Robles Syrah. The chocolate is infused with a hint of Pasilla chile, cayenne Pepper and cinnamon. Also a Spanish producer, Chocovic’s Ocumare 71% bitter sweet. This is a bare-bones chocolate that I like with Cab or a vintage port. Perhaps I’ll contact a local gourmet chocolatier and propose a tasting of her products with wine?!
Nice ideas above. For me, I like it plain and simple, dark chocolate and red wine. Perhaps I’ll have to venture out more and try some of your ideas.