What's the best wine to drink with dark chocolate? - Pinkies Up Ep. 6

On this episode of Pinkes Up, we seek to find out what is the best type of wine to drink with dark chocolate. Trust us, it was hard to do the research on this episode, but we got it done for you!

On Pinkies Up, we try to help normal wine drinkers learn more about wine in ways that are unpretentious, fun, and helpful. On this episode, Nick drops a few pro tips about sparkling wine throughout the episode while Bridget shares her love of bubbles and offers opinions about what every day drinkers would enjoy. If you'd like to watch this episode on YouTube, just click here!

On this episode, we used Milwaukee's own award-winning Indulgence Chocolatiers Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt Bars and Snack Factory Dark Chocolate Pretzel Crisps for our chocolate. Here's a list of the wines we enjoyed with the chocolate:

• Le Charmel Pinot Noir
• Renacer Punto Final Malbec
• Josh Reserve Paso Robles Cabernet Sauvignon
• Offley Tawny Port
• Schmitt Söhne Berenauslese Riesling

We also tried an Oktoberfest beer from Maplewood Brewing based on the recommendation of Julie Waterman (owner of Indulgence Chocolatiers) made in our previous podcast episode. You can listen to that episode here.

Here are our general tips for pairing wine with dark chocolate:

 - A lighter bodied red wine with less tannin such as Pinot Noir is our number one pick. Look for Pinot Noirs from France (like the Le Charmel we tried today), Oregon, or New Zealand. Other wine grapes to try would include Gamay, Grenache / Garnacha or Nebbiolo. We thought the combination of light fruit and "wetness" of the wine made a great match for the dark chocolate.

 - Our next pick was the Tawny Port from Offley. This dessert wine has plenty of sweetness, but also a rich body that worked perfectly with chocolate bar. You can find basic ports like this one for around $12, or spend hundreds of dollars on more expensive bottles of port. They all work perfectly with chocolate.

 - We also enjoyed the sweet Riesling. It felt refreshing and complemented the chocolate, but didn't necessarily go well with it. The beer also was a great combination with the chocolate, particularly the pretzel crisps!

 - We did not think that the heavier bottles of red wine - the Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon - made great pairings with the chocolate. The earthy flavors, black fruit notes, and tannins just weren't great matches. You can certainly enjoy a glass of Cabernet while eating chocolate, but we wouldn't recommend them as pairings.

We hope you enjoy this episode and go find the perfect bottle of wine to enjoy with  your chocolate. If you have favorite wine and chocolate pairings, we'd love for you to get in touch with us and let us know your tips. 

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Cheers!

Bridget & Nick