Pairing chocolate and wine is emerging as a party season favourite. Although we’re well past Chocolate week it’s a trend that that’s appeared partly thanks to the wine trade’s obsession with food as much as it is to do with our love for indulgence at this time of year.
Getting to grips with dry whites with fish and chunky reds with beef is elementary by most people’s standards but there is a fine line between loving the sound of two of our favourite festive groceries pairing perfectly in one sitting and actually achieving the balance perfectly in practice. Here are a couple of ideas to try to sweeten up your food and wine repertoire….
Hotel Chocolat have created a Festive Collection for exactly this exercise, only it comes with two types of Port rather than wine. A Tawny Port to try with the milk chocolate reindeer and a Ruby Port for the darker milk chocolate wreath. For maximum impact let the chocolate melt on your tongue before taking a sip of either. It’s a great gift and ‘starter pack’ for anyone embarking on their wine and chocolate journey. What the Ports lack in style and elegance they make up for in beautiful packaging….. £25.00 from www.hotelchocolat.co.uk
Rococo Chocolates are more for the connoisseur; handmade and a little more traditional in style they have a chocolate for every type of wine. Go into one of the London stores and tell them what you’ve got to drink and they’ll select the perfect little nugget to go with your wine. My favourite is their Pecan & Spice Praline with Campbells Classic Rutherglen Muscat from Australia. The rich, smoky, sultana notes of the wine turn the praline and spice characters of the chocolate into a café-latte-with-gingerbread-biscuit delight. £18.99 from Fortnum & Mason’s and Berry Brothers & Rudd.
