Milk Chocolate and White Wines

July 27th, 2009

Well here are the first of many wine parings to come!  Whoever said chocolate and white wine can’t mix? Milk chocolate compliments many types of fruit such as peach, apple, and lemon. These same fruits are included in the flavor profiles of many white wines. When pairing a wine with chocolate it is key to use a chocolate that has been infused with one of the flavor elements of the wine.  I have found the following three parings to be quite successful, each of these truffles are flavors that I associate with summer.

Gerhard Riesling, Germany

Gerhard Riesling, Germany

Peachy & Riesling

An organic white peach blossom tea infuses this milk truffle. This Chinese Rishi tea is blended with Jasmine flowers and all natural essential oils of peach, orange, and tangerine. A unique blend of peach and citrus flavors makes this an excellent pairing with Riesling. Rhine Riesling said to be the “true” Riesling, sweeter than our American “imposters” originates from the Rhine region in Germany. I chose this 2007 Gerhard Riesling Kabinett for its high quality and relatively inexpensive price, retailing at around twenty dollars. This Riesling is sweet but not too sweet and quite crisp, with aromas of fresh peaches blending wonderfully with the truffle.

Lemon & Chardonnay

Caramel Road Chardonnay, California

Caramel Road Chardonnay, California

The creaminess of milk chocolate melds well with zesty lemon to create our Lemon truffle. This refreshing flavor is reserved for the summer months only. Chardonnay is the most widely planted grape in California, varietals of this wine tend to be rich with distinct aromas. I paired a Monterey County Chardonnay with this particular truffle because of its known citrus undertones. The lemon in the chocolate helps bring out the citrus notes in the wine. I chose this Caramel Road Chardonnay due to its firm acidity and crispness.

Honeysuckle & Viognier

Domaine Astruc

Domaine Astruc Viognier, France

Our Honeysuckle truffle, as I explained in a previous post is actually infused with Jasmine tea. Its sweet floral flavor blends nicely with that of Viognier. This is not the most popular of wines here in California, but it easily became one of my favorite white’s upon first taste. The viognier grape is particularly hard to grow and at one time became almost extinct.  Although California wineries are increasingly experimenting with young crops of this variety due to its distinct aromas and their ability to hold up when blended with other wines. This Domaine Astruc comes from Viognier’s homeland, France.  With its low acidity and rich mouth feel it goes down smoothly with milk chocolate.

Always remember when paring wine with chocolate it is important to first taste the wine and distinguish its own unique taste. Then do the same with the chocolate and lastly taste the two together. Slowly let the chocolate melt on the back of your tongue and just before its gone swish some of the wine around in your mouth at the same time.  If this experience is enjoyable, you have a successful paring!

One Response to “Milk Chocolate and White Wines”

  1. Brian says:

    Great post. you might consider linking back to some of your previous posts, that discuss wine tasting, and also the honeysuckle you mentioned. BTW, cant wait to read about your experiences with your new airbrush.

RSS feed for comments on this post. And trackBack URL.

Leave a Reply