When my best friend, Eva, suggested Shawn and I drop by for an afternoon of wine and chocolate pairing, I definitely couldn’t say no. Eva has recently started a blog, A Me Moment, in which chocolate features prominently, and I loved the idea of spending time together while combining one of my favourite things with hers. I’ve written about wine and chocolate many times and I think it can be a fantastic combination – especially when you have the right wine and chocolate combination.
Eva treated us to a very healthy homemade lunch to start our afternoon (she shares our love of healthy eating with worthwhile treats in moderation) and then we started our session of pairing.
Eva chose Blink’s dark chocolate and cherry bark and I had recommended a Tawse wine for my part of the process. She selected Tawse’s Sketches 2011 Cabernet Merlot and a 2009 Messias Late Bottled Vintage Port.
We started with the Tawse and I was impressed with the pairing. The wine really brought out the spiciness in the chocolate and you got a great pop of flavour when you combined the two. This is a very solid wine overall, nicely structured and perfect for sipping over dinner, so it was great to experience it in this way.
The port was, as expected, another strong pairing option. Dark chocolate and port are often combined because the chocolate is not sweet enough to overpower the port – it’s a delicious taste sensation. The 2009 Messias is drinking well now and is a very good après meal wine option. We all agreed that this was the most dessert-like of our selections and even Eva, who is not much of a wine drinker, agreed she would like to have it again.
Blink’s chocolate bark was a very good choice for pairing, except for the cherries. On its own, this is a fantastic treat, but when you get a bite of cherry with your wine the tartness really impacts on the experience. To solve this, we just ate around the cherries and enjoyed them on their own. Not a hardship at all.
You can check out Eva’s take on our experience here: http://www.amemoment.ca/friends-wine-dark-chocolate-happiness/
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