chocolate and wine

Wine and chocolate – how we love them both. Two of life’s little pleasures that together might seem a match made in heaven. What better than sitting back to enjoy a bit of velvety chocolate with a glass of good wine, right?

Then why is it that so many sommeliers the world over shun the idea of chocolate and wine as an ideal pairing?

The answer lies in the fact that making a good match can be quite tricky due to the fact that both wine and chocolate engage the same areas of the palate.  This means that their flavors can actually compete with one another.  This sometimes leaves nothing but a terrible aftertaste rather than that sumptuous harmony one might expect. So, is it better to forget the idea of pairing the two? Absolutely not. New thinking says yes we can enjoy chocolate and wine together as long as we pay attention to the type of chocolate we’re tasting and follow a few important guidelines.

Do Chocolate and Wine Go Together?

Well, as it is with many relationships, it’s complicated. You’ve heard the old phrase, “opposites attract”? That’s a big part of why wine and chocolate pairings aren’t always successful, and can leave a bitter taste in your mouth…literally. It’s a case of having too much in common.

The real relationship wrecker here is a group of chemical compounds called polyphenols, which, ironically, are the things in chocolate and wine that are actually good for you. Polyphenols have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and other anti-bad guy properties that make the foods containing them good guys (again, in moderation). There are many, many polyphenols in the plant world; the ones in cacao (cocoa/chocolate) are mostly flavonoids, while the ones in grapes (wine) are mostly tannins. And they have one thing in common besides coming from the same class of chemicals: they taste bitter.