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Chocolate and port and fortified wine

What people mean when they say chocolate and wine works. Sweet, concentrated and able to survive the cocoa butter.

Fortified sweet wines are the genuine answer to the chocolate-and-wine question. Port, Banyuls, Maury, Pedro Ximénez sherry and Madeira all carry enough residual sugar to survive the chocolate's sweetness and enough concentration to be tasted through the fat.

Ruby and late-bottled vintage port are the most reliable. Tawny port and Pedro Ximénez, being nuttier and more caramelised, pair better with milk chocolate and with dried-fruit-forward dark bars.

The principle

Sweetness and concentration together. A fortified wine is one of the few drinks that clears both hurdles chocolate sets.

Pairings

  • Dark chocolate

    ClassicFat and acid balance

    Ruby or LBV port carries the residual sugar to survive a 70% bar and the fruit concentration to be tasted through the cocoa butter.

    For example: ruby port with a 70% dark; Banyuls with a fruit-forward dark

  • Milk chocolate

    ReliableMatched intensity

    Tawny port and Pedro Ximénez are nutty and caramelised, which meets milk chocolate on the same register.

    For example: tawny port with a caramel-forward milk bar; Pedro Ximénez with milk chocolate

Serving

Serve slightly below room temperature. Fortified wines at full room temperature in a warm room read as heavy and alcoholic.

Related

Chocolate types this pairs with

  • Dark chocolateRuby or LBV port carries the residual sugar to survive a 70% bar and the fruit concentration to be tasted through the cocoa butter.
  • Milk chocolateTawny port and Pedro Ximénez are nutty and caramelised, which meets milk chocolate on the same register.

Sources

  • ChocolateHQ editorial synthesis — ChocolateHQ(citation identity confirmed; passage not re-read)