Chocoholics rejoice, it is the best day of the year. And when chocolate and wine come together, well, is there much more mere mortals need? 

The Brockenchack team have done the leg work (or should we say girth work as we are all feeling a little wider for it!) to figure out the best pairings of chocolate with Eden Valley’s finest- Brockenchack. 

As with food pairing, either look for similar flavours and aromas or contrasting.  

Dark Chocolate  

Easily the most common match according toWine Selectorsfor dark chocolate is Cabernet Sauvignon and we don’t agree. Both our Cab Sauvs' -Miss BronteandDENreference dark chocolate in their tasting notes. But what about Grenache and dark chocolate? Bitter or semi-sweet dark chocolate (with a cacao content of 60-100%) really benefit from a wine that is fruit forward. OurMegan Jane Grenache, with notes of raspberry (hello dark chocolate and raspberry!!!) might just be the best match.  

Milk Chocolate 

According toEataly, silky/velvety/soft wines are milk chocolate’s best friend. Milk chocolate is around 50% cacao and 50% cream and it is this fat content that helps balance the tannin in the wine. Try ourHare Hunter Pinot Noirwith milk chocolate. The light to medium body of our Pinot Noir when paired with a moderately sweet chocolate (like milk) provides great balance. 

White Chocolate 

Uncommon opinion: white chocolate is not actually chocolate but today is not the day for semantics. Similarly, milk chocolate except that instead of 50% fat (from cream), white chocolate is 100% fat as it is cacao butter and cream. This is where a wine that can provide balance (in the form of acidity) is of significant importance. An off-dry Riesling is like ourMackenzie William 1896 Rieslingis a great option. Another option for those on the wild side is, according toWine Folly, it is actuallyPinot Noir!!! The fat in the white chocolate acts to highlight the red fruits of the pinot noir- so in our case cherries. YUM! 

Wild card 

Our friends at the Eden Valley Hotel rave about classic M&Ms with ourGreat Scott Sparkling Shiraz!

And what about flavoured chocolate- sea salt, caramel, mint, chill? Well, we can deduce -using the similar flavours method- that mint with Cab Sauv would work well as they often (especially from our corner of the world) have nuances of eucalyptus. Caramel/toffee with a tawny port like ourMagdalena 10 Year Old Tawny, again to highlight the nutty/toffee flavours. 

It goes without saying that the quality of the chocolate you chose will play an important role in the success of the pairing- just as cooking with wine does. Lindt have paired several of their chocolates to wines- you can read their recommendations (plus salivate over their chocolatehere)  

Lastly, just like pairing food and wine, it is incredibly subjective. If you really love white chocolate with our William Frederick Shiraz or dark chocolate with Tru-Su Rosé, power to you folks.

Right on that note, I am off toHaigh'sto restock and probably the gym to balance the deliciousness!

-Chloë, Brockenchack’s marketing coordinator and resident wine/vine nerd.