Munching a bar of chocolate induces sensation that is more pleasurable than listening to your favorite music. Isn’t it?

We all love chocolate. Not only for its great taste and aroma but also for the numerous health benefits it has to offer.

Countries like Switzerland, Germany and Austria had the most number of chocolate buyers last year. Asian countries too are catching up fast in terms of consumption.

From dark chocolate to regular milky bites and flavored bars, chocolates come in different forms and mix.  We all have different likings & taste buds. Some of us like dark chocolates more and some are completely nuts over whites.

There’s no denying that we enjoy more when we have a company. Similarly, our favorite bar tastes sweeter when clubbed with other foods.

Fruits, snacks & cheese are usually the favorites on our menu. But in the recent years, wine has emerged as an intriguing alternative to couple with chocolate.

Although chocolate and wine is a gripping duo itself, some wines compliment chocolate a little better.

If you didn’t have an idea yet, let’s check out which wines work best with your ginger –

Dark Chocolate

A dark or a black chocolate is mainly made up of cocoa butter. Famous for its health properties, a dark chocolate is a healthier alternative to bars that are high in sugar.

When pairing wine with a dark chocolate, it has to be the full-bodied tipple. It should have bold fruit flavour and intense spices. Examples of some great wines that go with dark chocolate are –

  • Cabernet Sauvignon
  • Pinot Noir
  • Merlot
  • Port
  • Port-style red wines
  • Vin Santo del Chianti

Dark chocolate doesn’t match well with dry red wine barring when there is a high amount of residual sugar, or it is a part of a dessert. This is because wine and dark chocolate are both bitter. In a dessert, there is usually enough starch and fat to offset the bitterness of wine and chocolate.

Milk Chocolate

Milk chocolate is the easiest type of brown to pair with drinks, especially with wine. The extra fat and the cream does the trick.

Some of these wines pair wonderfully well if you like milk chocolate.

  • Ruby port
  • Brachetto d’Acqui
  • Rutherglen Muscat
  • Riesling
  • Most dessert wines
  • Lambrusco di Sorbara

White Chocolate

Unlike dark or milk chocolate, a white bar pairs up best with contrasting flavours of wine. It is also the only chocolate that goes well with dry red wine.

These wines make for a perfect party with a white chocolate –

  • Orange Muscat
  • Sherry
  • Beaujolais
  • Ice Wine
  • Rose Port
  • Pinot Noir
  • Chardonnay

Flavored Chocolate

It’s not only plain chocolates that people crave for. They love to have them in various flavors. Vanilla, Coconut, Banana, lime, lavender etc. add that extra zing and sapidity to the composition.

In fact, flavored chocolate recipes are simple and easy to prepare. You can even make them at home.

Go to any part of the world and you’ll find these crazy flavors selling like a hot cake.

Take a look at these wine recommendations for a flavored chocolate –

  • Sea salt chocolate – Zinfandel or Pinot Noir
  • Chocolate with nuts (including peanut butter) – Madeira or Marsala
  • Mint chocolate – Cabernet Sauvignon or Touriga Nacional
  • Chocolate and berries – Banyuls or Maury
  • Caramel chocolate – Moscato d’Asti or Demi-Sec Champagne

Popular food and recipe sites are added with new preparations every hour. It’s not that we explore new foods everyday but we love to experiment. We love to experiment with foods and superfoods, and that is what helps to discover new combinations and dishes.

Sometimes I feel, it’s not the years of experience that’s behind the making of a seasoned chef but a one-off experiment that clicked in his favor.