As we roll into the festive time of year, we start enjoying more time with friends and family. With these gatherings we are probably are eating sweets, cheeses and other wonderful foods. So, what wines do you pair with these? Let’s review a few delicious options!
Let’s start with chocolate, and who doesn’t love chocolate! Dark chocolate is the most intense, and richly-flavored, and is composed of 70% to 100% cacao. Because of the intense flavors, bittersweet and dark chocolates need to be paired with strong red wines. Look to Merlot, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon as well as ports and fortified wines. Milk chocolate has a higher percentage of sugar and smaller percentage of cacao, and is the sweetest of all chocolates. Milk chocolate is not bitter, so sweeter Sherries like a cream sherry or Pedro Ximenez are always delicious combinations. A Hungarian Tokaji or a Tawny Port can also work well with milk chocolate.
Dessert time? Port and Madeira have red cherry, dark raisin and fig flavors so try these with coffee and caramel based deserts. Madeira (Bual and Malmsey) are great with nuts, toffee and butterscotch. Try Bual Madeira with Pumpkin pie! Ice Wines are great pairings with desserts like cheesecakes, berry cobblers, lemon tart, peach desserts, and short bread cookies. The bottom line is, the wine should always be sweeter than the dessert, or otherwise the wine can taste dull and acidic.
We can’t forget those wonderful cheese plates! Soft Cheeses like Brie, Camembert, Neufchâtel, Provolone are creamy and lower in fat than hard cheeses. White wines such as German or Austrian Riesling with a little bit of sweetness, semi-sweet champagne, or sparkling wines pair well. What about hard Cheeses like Gruyere, Longhorn, Gouda, and most cheddars? Red wines go well with these as the tannins soften the fat and protein of hard cheeses. Select wines such as Bordeaux, Amarone, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Barolo. Goat Cheese is tangy with a chalk like texture. Crisp young white wines like Sauvignon Blanc or Sancerre pair well.
The holidays wouldn’t be the same without Champagne. Champagne is incredibly versatile with food. In general, appetizers, asparagus, butter sauces, Caviar, eggs and eggs dishes, lobster, oysters, shellfish, popcorn, smoked salmon pair well. A few other options to Champagne which are considered sparkling wines would be Cava. Cava is a type of Spanish white or pink sparkling wine produced in Spain. Moscato d'Asti or Prosecco are other sparkling wines choices. Both are off dry to sweet, low in alcohol, and often enjoyed with dessert. Try poached pears with Moscato d’Asti. Prosecco, is delicious with Marcona almonds.
Happy holiday pairing, and until next time, cheers!
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