Wine and chocolate matching divides many people, there is so much snobbery about wine but like any 2 ingredients that vary so much in flavour there are good pairings and bad. When I received an email asking me if I?d like to try out a wine created with the intention of being matched with chocolate my interest was definitely peaked. Linton Park Wines are the team behind the South African Caf? Cabernet, they set about creating a wine specifically to match well with very dark, bitter high cocoa (70% and above) chocolate and you know what, it?s a good pairing. The wine arrived in a gorgeous box with a bar of 70% cocoa solids dark chocolate that had been blended in Belgium. The matt black bottle was pretty striking and even elicited a ?nice bottle? from my wine hating boyfriend Glen, which definitely took me by surprise.
I love my reds to be so dark and concentrated that you can?t see light through the glass ? the big hitters that reek of tobacco and stain your lips like you?ve been blackberry picking after just one sip. ?I also like a really gentle hint of sweetness in there but the general rule of thumb is not to drink a wine thats sweeter than your chocolate, so this dark, brooding cabernet needed to be dry as a bone to compliment the bitter dark chocolate that I was nibbling on, and dry it was.
This is definitely a food pairing wine for me. When food and drink pairs well their sum is so much greater than its parts. Alone the wine, although having plenty of blackcurrant fruit and mocha spice that I love was just too dry for me to drink alone but paired with the bitter dark chocolate it became a much happier, smoother, well rounded creature all together, think really well made Italian espresso. In the name of science I decided to test the wine with a different chocolate and the dark chocolate with a different red?
Science in action?.
Paired with a sweeter, creamier chocolate it?s a terrible clash, this baby needs the high cocoa bitterness to really shine, the touch of sweetness the bitter chocolate brings completes the pairing. Likewise the bitter chocolate when eaten with a sweeter, jammy Malbec was just plain wrong, the chocolate needs the dry cabernet, it really was quite striking how different the 2 wines were with the same chocolate. The sweeter chocolate and Malbec were equally brilliant together also which goes to show all those people who exclaim that you can?t pair wine and chocolate just haven?t paired the right ones.
Dark, bitter, high cocoa solids chocolate is said to be good for you?as is?a glass of good red wine (unless of course you read the Daily Mail which basically insists EVERYTHING gives you cancer, seriously stop reading that paper, you will feel all the better for it). When you find a happy couple that compliment each other then surely your entitled to call it medicinal to enjoy a few nibbles and sups?.. *doctor face*
Cafe Cabernet also turned out to be a bloody brilliant match with our dinner that night, I?d made a spicy, tomato based creole chicken curry, not an easy wine match but Caf? Cabernet stepped up and nailed it, more plus points.
When it comes wine I very rarely buy one that needs to be drank alongside anything more than a cigarette but you know what, I?d definitely make an exception for this one as it gives me the perfect excuse to indulge in some really good chocolate too
You can pick up a bottle for ?8.98 from The Drink Shop.
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Source: http://itsnotfingrocketscience.com/2013/03/23/wine-to-drink-with-dark-chocolate/
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