Like Wine for Chocolate
A spirited study in age, terroir, weight, and cacao.
When I think of chocolate and wine, my mind conjures the token romantic treat: popping Champagne alongside chocolate-covered strawberries. Their ubiquity during Valentine’s Day, honeymoons, and anniversaries is quite peculiar, given chocolate itself is notoriously difficult to pair with wine.
Pairing wine and chocolate can be challenging1 because of the different flavors and characteristics of each. Cocoa butter can coat your palate and alter other flavors, while chocolate’s acidity can make wine taste harsh. Additionally, chocolate’s most prominent polyphenols (i.e., naturally occurring compounds found in plants that have antioxidant properties) are flavonoids2, which emit a bitter taste like the tannins of wine. Therefore, a wine lower in tannin will counterbalance the bitterness of darker chocolate. The levels of sweetness in both wine and chocolate should also match each other for a balanced pairing. What does this all mean? Sweet wines may overwhelm dark chocolate, while dry wines may not complement milk chocolate.
Despite the above, wine and chocolate have many commonalities. Both are strongly influenced by terroir — just as wine can reflect the terroir of the region where the grapes are grown, chocolate can exhibit their origins of cacao. Soil, climate, and processing methods all impact the final bottle or bar. Consequently, their complex compositions offer a wide range of flavors and aromas, with cacao/grape variety, fermentation processes, and aging influencing their taste profiles and reflecting the high level of craftsmanship and artistry required for production.
In 2010, I hosted a birthday celebration at the now-shuttered Bacchus Wine Made Simple in the Upper West Side. It was a planned tasting in the shop’s cellar, where they arranged “Old World” wines to be paired with six different bar of chocolate I’d selected beforehand:
/ February 21, 2010 @ Bacchus Wine Made Simple (closed), Upper West Side, NYC /
No. 1: Bénédicte & Stéphane Tissot NV Crémant du Jura Extra Brut
🍫 GREEN & BLACK’S ‘Maya Gold’ Orange & Spices dark chocolate (60% cacao)
$22 (circa 2010) | 🇫🇷 sparkling white
Chardonnay / Pinot Noir / Poulsard / Trousseau
No. 2: Azienda Agricola Perazzeta 2007 Toscana Rosso ‘Sara’
🍫 THEO CHOCOLATE ‘Cherry Almond’ dark (70% cacao)
$17 (c. 2010) | 🇮🇹 still red
Sangiovese / Ciliegiolo
No. 3: Domaine La Croix Belle 2005 Coteaux du Languedoc
🍫 GREEN & BLACK’S ‘Dark 70%’ dark (70% cacao)
$18 (c. 2010) | 🇫🇷 still red
Grenache / Syrah / Mourvèdre / Cinsault / Carignan
No. 4: Podere Ciona 2003 Merlot di Toscana ‘Le Diacce’
🍫 HACHEZ ‘Cocoa d’Arriba’ Blackberry dark (77% cacao)
$30 (c. 2010) | 🇮🇹 still red
Merlot
No. 5: Jean Leon 2002 Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva
🍫 GREEN & BLACK’S ‘Hazelnut & Currant’ dark (60% cacao)
$25 (c. 2010) | 🇪🇸 still red
Cabernet Sauvignon
No. 6: Tre Donne 2008 Moscato d’Asti
🍫 SCHARFFEN BERGER ‘Extra Dark’ dark (82% cacao)
$20 (c. 2010) | 🇮🇹 sparkling white
Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (Moscato Bianco)
THE CONCEPT
A birthday I think of often, with friends who were in attendance still noting how memorable it had been as well, this event was one of my initial exposures to wine and my first ever attempt at a “tasting” — my only contribution being the chocolate selections, of course, while one of the shop’s sommeliers handled the wines.
I recently uncovered my tasting sheet from that afternoon, recalling my highlights — the Crémant and Moscato d’Asti bookends as well as the Toscana Rosso. In fact, an unwitting coincidence years later is the Crémant and its producer having become present day go-tos of mine. My tastes were pretty basic back then, so I relied heavily on my curiosity for guidance — just as I do today.
That same curiosity extended to Like Wine for Chocolate, an experiment inspired by this birthday tasting at Bacchus. Now with more wine experience, I wondered if the same wine and chocolate pairings from 2010 would still ring true.
To start, I found chocolates from Bar & Cocoa with similar flavor profiles to the 2010 ones (see Bar Notes below) — all made by new-to-me producers. For wines, I made selections in two parts.
The first set mirrored what I did for the chocolates: new wines with the same grape varieties and appellations. Like a band paying homage to another artist or song, these are my wine “covers” of 2010. Another facet I considered was the price point of the 2010 wines and the effect inflation would have on their cost today. To optimally recreate the pairings from fourteen years ago, I applied 44% to the original prices (cited parenthetically in The Wineup below), arriving at a rough budget for these wine “covers”.
The second set of wines was an opportunity to explore the possibilities of chocolate pairing, allowing me to select wines distinct from those chosen in 2010. In direct contrast to the wine “covers”, these second selections would be the wine “remixes” of the former. After spending the last few years immersed in wine, I was eager to put my food pairing abilities to work. I took advice3 from Dave McIntyre: gourmet bars like the ones I’d selected are enhanced with fruits, nuts, chiles, and the like — all flavorings that would suggest a wine, like a “dessert corollary” to the idea of pairing wine to the sauce rather than the protein.
As a result, Like Wine for Chocolate featured twelve wines — two sets of bottles coupled into dual-pairings, each against six different chocolate bars. For each pairing couplet, I instigated a “blind” element by not sharing which bottle was the “cover” nor which the “remix”. Instead, I had each taster mark their pairing preferences across the six chocolates, an attempt to observe how time, memory, and knowledge could inform our preferences.
THE BAR NOTES
🍇🍷 Like Wine for Chocolate 🍫
No. 1: Crémant du Jura (cover) vs. Sparkling Elbling (remix)
🍫 THEO & PHILO ‘Mango, Chili, & Cacao Nibs’ dark chocolate (65% cacao, Philippines)
Theo & Philo is a chocolate maker based in the Philippines, priding itself on using local ingredients. After his first encounter with single estate chocolate, chocolatier Philo Chua was surprised no one was making bean-to-bar chocolate in the Philippines, where he had grown up, as cacao is grown there, but is mostly exported or used to make hot chocolate. Along with their single origin plain bars, Theo & Philo has a collection of flavored bars inspired by local Filipino cuisine. Theo is short for Theobroma cacao, and Philo is derived from the Greek word for “love”.
MAKER NOTES: “With fiery chili to ignite the union between sweet mangoes and nutty cacao nibs, this ménage à trois is just so scandalously delightful that there's no way it can be kept a secret. No wonder they say good things come in threes!”
REMIX LOGIC: high acidity + primary flavors of lime, herbs, spice, & almond in Elbling ⇆ mango, nuttiness, & chiles in chocolate
❧
No. 2: Toscana Rosso (cover) vs. Schiava (remix)
🍫 AMEDEI ‘Toscano Frutti Rossi’ strawberry/raspberry/cherry dark chocolate (70%, blend)
Named after her grandmother, Amedei Tuscany is a gourmet Italian chocolate brand was founded in 1990 by Cecilia Tessieri, the world's first female master chocolatier. Amedei uses only the best ingredients, with Tessieri carefully overseeing each step the cacao beans go through to ensure fine quality chocolate — only 1% of the beans harvested are deemed worthy to create their chocolate.
MAKER NOTES: “Extra dark chocolate with strawberries, cherries and raspberries. The delicate yet rich flavors mingle for an indulgent and luxurious experience that's truly unique.”
REMIX LOGIC: primary flavors of strawberry & raspberry in Schiava ⇆ medley of berries in chocolate
❧
No. 3: French GSM Blend (cover) vs. Australian Grenache (remix)
🍫 CACAOSUYO ‘Lakuna’ dark chocolate (70%, Peru)
Cacaosuyo is a “tree-to-bar” Peruvian chocolate maker with 100% traceability. They pay careful attention to the cacao they use at all stages from harvest — to ensure the best quality, Cacaosuyo is so particular about their beans that their beans are brought to dedicated labs for analysis. The cacao beans are classified by each and every strain, to detect new flavor profiles and discovering rare varieties, a crucial step allowing these rare ones to become protected and not otherwise lost. Owned by Eduardo Lanfranco and Samir Giha, they craft their chocolate in Lima, using only Peruvian chocolate.
MAKER NOTES: “The cacao for this bar is grown in the Peruvian Amazon region, from where it is brought to the capital city of Lima to be crafted into a fine flavor, value-added chocolate. This origin carries floral notes of fruit, honey, and finally a hint of citrus.”
REMIX LOGIC: primary flavors of fruitiness & blood orange of Grenache ⇆ fruit, honey, & hint of citrus in chocolate
❧
No. 4: Tuscan Merlot (cover) vs. Rioja (remix)
🍫 DICK TAYLOR ‘Black Fig’ dark chocolate (72%, Madagascar)
Former boat makers and carpenters, Adam Dick and Dustin Taylor were intrigued by the new and challenging trend of craft bean-to-bar chocolate, creating their own chocolate business, Dick Taylor. Dick Taylor supports and purchases their beans through direct trade, working directly with the farmers. They also push the traditional methods of chocolate making to coax the maximum “pure” flavor they can from their beans and for their single origin chocolates. Most of the bars in their collection are made from only 2 ingredients.
MAKER NOTES: “Starting with their fruity 72% Malagasy origin chocolate from Madagascar, Dick Taylor adds in chewy bits of dark, rich California black mission figs. The combination makes for an unforgettably bright chocolate, rife with notes of dried fruit and deep cocoa, and textured with locally-sourced figs.”
REMIX LOGIC: primary flavor of dried fig & tobacco in Tempranillo ⇆ dried fig & deep cocoa in chocolate
❧
No. 5: Spanish Cabernet (cover) vs. Xinomavro (remix)
🍫 QANTU ‘Noyer Noir’ black walnut dark chocolate (70%, Peru)
Qantu is a chocolate maker based in Montreal, started by Elfi Maldonado and Maxime Simard in 2016. The pair fell in love with bean-to-bar chocolate after researching cacao after their first plantation visit in 2014. Qantu focuses on Peruvian cacao for the moment, which is where they had met over a decade ago in Elfi’s home country. The name Qantu is derived from the name of the national flower of Peru and Bolivia — Quechua in its native language of the Peruvian Andes, it represents a symbol of unity and hospitality.
MAKER NOTES: “A tribute to Qantu's nordicity! The majesty of black walnut and the sweetness of maple syrup illuminate their Bagua cacao as the aurora borealis illuminates their sky. Smell, taste one of the greatest treasures of the Quebec forest. Think caramelized black walnut pieces in floral like lilac fruity cocoa with a touch of pine tree.”
REMIX LOGIC: locally grown walnut used to make barrels for Xinomavro (plus its primary flavors of plum sauce & clove) ⇆ black walnut & pine in chocolate
❧
No. 6: Moscato d’Asti (cover) vs. Ruster Ausbruch (remix)
🍫 SOMA ‘Stratus’ icewine lees dark chocolate (70%, Ecuador)
Soma was founded by David Castellan and Cynthia Leung in 2003. A rarity in the industry, Soma is adept as a chocolate maker and as a chocolatier, as they were one of the first to tackle the micro-batch chocolate bar production. Besides their wonderful line of chocolate bars, Soma also uses their chocolate to make ganache for truffles, and other chocolate treats.
MAKER NOTES: “The original idea was to infuse cacao with oak. After an inspired talk with friends at Stratus Vineyards in Niagara-on-the-Lake, winemaker J-L Groux sent over an oak barrel partially filled with lees, the residual yeast and grape skins from the winemaking process. They roasted up a batch of cacao beans and added the roasted nibs to the barrel, rolling it around to make sure things were well-mixed. Three months later, an aromatic wine-infused cacao emerged. After grinding the nibs, refining, and conching, the Stratus bar was born, an experimental and elegant chocolate bar with the subtle flavor of a Stratus wine. Tasting notes of grapes, wild honey, blackcurrant, walnut, honeysuckle and blue cheese.”
REMIX LOGIC: primary notes of pineapple, apricot, ginger, honey, & marzipan in Welschriesling/Furmint ⇆ icewine lees, walnut, & wild honey in chocolate
THE MENU
CHOCOLATE
Theo & Philo ‘Mango, Chili, & Cacao Nibs’ dark chocolate (65% cacao, Philippines)
Amedei ‘Toscano Frutti Rossi’ strawberry/raspberry/cherry dark chocolate (70%, blend)
Cacaosuyo ‘Lakuna’ dark chocolate (70%, Peru)
Dick Taylor ‘Black Fig’ dark chocolate (72%, Madagascar)
Qantu ‘Noyer Noir’ black walnut dark chocolate (70%, Peru)
SOMA ‘Stratus’ icewine lees dark chocolate (70%, Ecuador)
CHEESE & CHARCUTERIE
DESSERT
traditional Chabela wedding cake with key lime curd from Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
THE WINEUP
/ November 8, 2024 @ Jersey City, NJ /
Valérie Tissot NV Crémant du Jura Brut
$35 @ Astor Wines (vs. $32)
Wine MC² (New York) | 🇫🇷 sparkling white
Chardonnay
Scoville sidekick ・ Crémant of steel ・ smoky orchard
Jonas Dostert NV Elbling ‘Crémant’ Extra Brut [2018 base]
$40 @ Leon & Son Wine
Vom Boden (New York) | 🇩🇪 sparkling white (dég. 1/2024)
Elbling
tutti frutti ・ leesy & zingy ・ green almonds
❧
Fattoria Le Pupille 2022 Morellino di Scansano
$20 @ Astor Wines (vs. $25)
Ethica Wines (Florida) | 🇮🇹 still red
Sangiovese / Ciliegiolo / Grenache (Alicante Nero)
totally Tuscan ・ Cherry Dr. Pepper・ earthy tannin
Ferruccio Carlotto 2022 Vigneti delle Dolomiti ‘Schiava’
$35 @ Eataly Vino NY
Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant (California) | 🇮🇹 still red
Schiava
light & spiced ・ berry medley ・ carnival candy
❧
Clos Fantine 2020 Faugères ‘Cuvée Tradition’
$27 @ Discovery Wines (vs. $26)
Camille Rivière Selection (New York) | 🇫🇷 still red
Carignan / Grenache / Syrah / Mourvèdre / Cinsault
crunchy fruit ・ wild herbs ・ cacao & chill
Jumping Juice 2020 Grenache ‘Single Vineyard’
$20 @ CoolVines Jersey City
Jenny & François Selections (New York) | 🇦🇺 still red
Grenache
structured yet juicy ・ bit ’o blood orange ・ very berry
❧
Gianni Brunelli 2021 Toscana Rosso ‘Amor Costante’
$60 @ Flatiron Wines (vs. $43; Merlot di Toscana IGT only declared in notable years)
Skurnik Wines (New York) | 🇮🇹 still red
Merlot / Sangiovese
cherry vanilla cola ・ superb Tuscan ・ fruit & flora
Sierra de Toloño 2020 Rioja ‘Caminos de Santa Cruz’
$46 @ Flatiron Wines
Bowler Wine (New York) | 🇪🇸 still red
Tempranillo
dried fig・ sugar plum fairy・ grippy tannin
❧
Mas Alta 2019 Priorat ‘Black Slate’ La Vilella Alta
$30 @ Despaña Vinos y Más (vs. $36)
European Cellars (North Carolina) | 🇪🇸 still red
Grenache (Garnatxa) / Carignan (Carinyena) / Cabernet Sauvignon / Syrah
power player ・ llicorella & licorice ・ spiced black fruit
Kir-Yianni Estate 2019 Naoussa ‘Ramnista’ Xinomavro
$30 @ Leon & Son Wine
Skurnik Wines (New York) | 🇬🇷 still red
Xinomavro
walnut barrels ・ blackberry bramble ・ spicy vanilla
❧
Vittorio Bera e Figli 2022 Moscato d’Asti ‘Canelli’
$21 @ Vanderbilt Ave Wine Merchants (vs. $29)
Bowler Wine (New York) | 🇮🇹 sparkling white
Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains (Moscato Bianco)
honeyed effervescent ・ orange blossom ・ sophisticated simplicity
Heidi Schröck & Söhne 2021 Ruster Ausbruch ‘Auf den Flügeln der Morgenröte'
$95 ($48 on sale) @ Flatiron Wines (375mL)
Skurnik Wines (New York) | 🇦🇹 sweet white
Welschriesling / Furmint
botrytis bonanza ・ tropical fruit ・ one sweet day
THE CODA
I found in Like Wine for Chocolate an experiment for the ages. Not only did it serve as a noteworthy exploration in how far wine pairings can flex with chocolate, but also as a vehicle for time travel — fourteen years, to be exact. While it would have been amazing to have been able to procure the most recent vintages for original wines I had in 2010, but that idea quickly hit dead ends, as many of those cuvées are no longer as easy to find here as they once were. One way or another, I was committed to making these pairings a reality.
Like a well-constructed crossword puzzle, the parameters set me up for this evening’s success — wine “covers” of the same 2010 grape varieties and appellations budgeted with budgeted inflation and newly imagined wine “remixes” to be paired alongside chocolate “covers” of the 2010 one. Although it was pretty biased in my favor to be in competition with my own selections, it was challenging and fun all the same, especially as I was determined to select completely new-to-me cuvées and chocolates to have the “pairing” experience be almost fully blind for me as well.
The method behind my selection process was simple: I took key ingredient(s) from the chocolate (e.g., dried fig in Qantu’s Noyer Noir) and searched for them under “Primary Flavors” within Wine Folly’s guides to grape varieties (i.e., Xinomavro, for which locally grown walnut is often used to make barrels for élevage). This usually arrived at a few options of grape varieties for which I narrowed down to the final twelve wines poured — not too far off from the “dessert corollary” mentioned earlier, only here I paired wine to other ingredient(s) rather than the cacao itself.
Overall, the wine “covers” tended to be the favored “pairing” for each chocolate, except for the last two, where the “remix” won over most. While the wine “remixes” paired decently with majority of the chocolates, many people found the wine “remixes” to be ones they enjoyed solo best. As I've been relatively new to chocolate pairings myself (thus, this experiment), these results didn’t surprise me. Either way, I was happy to hear the wines were drinking well, with or without chocolate.
HIGHLIGHTS
Chocolates:
◆ ‘Mango, Chili, & Cacao Nibs’
◆ ‘Noyer Noir’ (black walnut)Pairings:
◆ ‘Mango, Chili, & Cacao Nibs’ + Crémant du Jura (for heat) / Sparkling Elbling (for fruit)
◆ ‘Black Fig’ + Faugères
◆ ‘Noyer Noir’ + Xinomavro
◆ ‘Stratus’ (with ice wine lees) + Ruster Ausbruch
Although Forrest Gump’s words of wisdom say life is like a box of chocolates because you never know what you’re gonna get, I know exactly what I get with the remarkable wine community I have here in Jersey City. Many thanks to my wine crew here for indulging in an evening of wine, chocolate, and time travel with me — none of this would be possible without your support, encouragement, and participation.
“How to Pair Wine with Chocolate” by David McIntyre from The Washington Post
“It’s Surprisingly Difficult to Pair Wine with Chocolate…” by Jess Lander from Wine Enthusiast
See Footnote 1.