Milk, dark or white, hollow or filled? Matching wine with chocolate is one of the trickiest food and wine pairing challenges.
There are however, some interesting combinations; if you find the right one it can be a match made in heaven, but be sure to avoid dry wines.
Your best bet is to match lighter, more elegant flavoured chocolates with lighter-bodied wines. Likewise, the stronger the chocolate the more full-bodied the wine.
Go for a pairing that ‘compliments’; trying to find a suitable ‘contrast’ can be trickier.
First the chocolate. Although a hidden cream egg fan, I prefer to treat myself, or be treated to, beautifully presented, upmarket chocolates, the darker the better. Consider the key characteristics – note the aroma, listen to the snap when you break it and check the shine and glossiness. Before tasting, pay similar attention to the wine. For a cheap and cheerful fizz, try a demi-sec Blanquette de Limoux, from the Languedoc region of SW France (£8 for 75cl. 12% abv). Using Mauzac grapes, it is made using the ‘traditional champagne method’ but offers better value for money. Demi-sec, meaning half dry, is actually a sweet wine. Its dry apply acidity helps to make this match less cloying than others. It goes lovely with hollow chocolate eggs, but do beware of the clash with rich sweet fillings. Also worth a try is Moscato d’Asti (£8 for 75cl. 5.5% abv), a semi-sweet lightly sparkling wine from the Piedmont region of Italy, made from Moscato Bianco grapes. Fresh and floral, it has low alcohol levels, meaning you can start early and continue to enjoy it all day.
Many people consider port a good match for dark chocolate. Here I’d recommend Taylor’s 10 Year Old Tawny Port (£22 for 75cl. 20% abv), particularly with dark chocolate; or another fortified wine, the luscious Pedro Ximenez sherry (£7.99 for 50cl. 18% abv).
The general rule is that a wine should be as sweet, or a little more so, than the chocolate.
Linda Piggott-Vijeh gives advice on perfect tipples for Easter
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