Just in time for Valentine’s Day, we talk about a match made in heaven: wine and chocolate! In this episode we pair 3 wines - a Brachetto, a Port, and a Zinfandel - with three kinds of chocolate: milk, dark, and Carmela’s Baby Bites from her Baby Cakes bakery. We think one of the combos is a must do for Valentine’s Day! So, if you want to treat that someone special to a fun and maybe romantic night of wine and chocolate pairing, listen in to get some great ideas - and avoid a big mistake! We also talk about different takes on Valentine’s Day and what our favorite types of chocolate are. Also in this episode: handcuffs. Don’t ask! Wines reviewed: 2020 Banfi Brachetto d'Acqui Rosa Regale, Graham's Port Six Grapes Reserve, 2019 Shenandoah Zinfandel Special Reserve.
Contact The Wine Pair Podcast - we’d love to hear from you!
Visit our website, leave a review, and reach out to us: https://thewinepairpodcast.com/
Follow and DM us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewinepairpodcast/
Send us an email: joe@thewinepairpodcast.com
Transcript
Episode 16: Wine and Chocolate! Practical Pairings 00:00
Hello! And welcome to the Wine Pair podcast. I’m Joe, your sommelier of reasonably priced wine, and this is my wife and wine-pairing partner in crime - Carmela. And we are the Wine Pair.
Today, just in time for Valentine’s Day, we are going to talk about a match made in heaven - wine and chocolate! Who doesn’t love chocolate? And who doesn’t love wine? I mean, what could be better?
For those of you who are thinking about doing something fun or something special or something different or romantic for Valentine’s Day, pairing chocolate and wine is a great, great, great idea. I mean, it combines two of our favorite things, right Carmela?!?
And, for those of you who are new to our podcast, every episode and we taste and rate 3 wines that you should be able to easily find in your local grocery store and are priced under $20, and our goal is to have some fun, make you laugh, and maybe make wine a little less confusing so you can find some news ones that you like. We release a new episode every week on Sundays, so we hope you’ll hit that subscribe button and keep coming back for more! And if you like us, rate us!
This Episode 02:51
Today, we are pairing 3 wines that should go well with chocolate - a sweet sparkling from Italy called a Brachetto d’Acqui, a dessert wine from Portugal called Port, and a red Zinfandel from California. Not a dessert wine, but could be a good pairing.
Chocolate in this episode, including Baby Cakes 03:32
And we have some awesome chocolate treats to pair with these wines. We picked up some milk chocolate and dark chocolate, and we have your Baby Bites from your bakery, Carmela called Baby Cakes. For those of you in the Seattle area, we would love you to check out Carmela’s website - lovebabycakes.com - where you can order some beautiful and delicious little cakes and these amazing baby bites. She’s also on Yelp and on Instagram at thebabycakeslady.
Carmela, why don’t you tell those out there in listening land about the baby bites we are going to eat. (Made by hand)
Broader Topic: Valentine’s Day and Chocolate 06:00
Ok, as we do EVERY episode, we are going to take a right turn and talk about something that is sort of related to wine and the topic at hand which is pairing wine and chocolate, and just have some fun.
Now, Carmela, what is your feeling on Valentine’s Day? I mean, what kind of a day you think it is? Do you think it is a romantic holiday, a fun holiday, a cute holiday, an overrated holiday? When you think about it, what do you think?
What do most people think about Valentine’s Day? (It’s been kind of cuted up. What about the test?!? Too high of expectations)
Ok, now let’s talk about what you like for Valentine’s Day? Some people like chocolate, some people like champagne, some like candy, some like flowers, some like a nice fancy dinner, some want a proposal, a spa day, a couples massage, a single massage, a break, some may even like tacos
- Talk about that I know that Carmela likes, and make her explain that I know what she likes, but she doesn’t know what I like.
- She doesn’t love gifts, but does like candy.
- Really likes chocolate, sour candies, and tootsie pops
- Do you remember what I used to do on Valentine’s Day morning? (Because I often left early in the morning to go to work, I would have breakfast treats in the morning for you and the kids when they were little)
- What do you do for me on Valentine’s Day
And now I am going to ask you some questions about chocolate - a chocolate quiz, to see if you pass!!! Are you ready?
Questions:
- Milk or Dark? How dark will you go?
- What is your favorite brand of chocolate? Cadbury, Lindt, Hersheys, Sees, Godiva, or Ghiradelli? Something else - Theos, Frans, Frangos, Dilattante
- How about American milk chocolate versus Canadian versus British?
- Favorite kind of “chocolate” - like if walked into a chocolate shop, what would you choose? caramel, sea salt caramel, mint, cherry cordial, nougat, nuts, marshmallow
- Favorite M&M - plain, peanut, peanut butter, pretzel, caramel, crispy, almond, dark, fudge brownie?
Anyway, let’s get to tasting so we can see what we think. Are you ready?
Brief overview of the varietals we selected 15:00
Again, we chose three different types of wines to pair with our chocolate treats, so we’ll taste each of the wines on their own, but more importantly, we will see how the different wines pair with the different types of chocolate, and if some pair better than others.
- Sweet sparkling - Brachetto d’Acqui, which is a sweet sparking red wine from Piedmont in Northern Italy. Made from the Brachetto grape. Grown almost nowhere else. It is said to be a very ancient wine, maybe since before the Roman Empire. Very low alcohol.
- Ruby Port - From Portugal, the most common type, bright red color and full-bodied fruitiness. There are my different types of Port. Blend of wines. Many ports can be aged for a long time, but not ruby. Meant to be drunk young. Meant to be served slightly chilled. Relatively high in alcohol (20% or so)
- Red wine - Zinfandel. Originally Primitivo from Southern Italy - Puglia where your family is from, Carmela. California Zinfandel, which is very popular, tends to be both high in acid and big bodied. Can be spicy, and hot if it is not created well. Lots of alcohol, strong tannins.
And, after we taste and review these wines, we are going to compare the tastes and smells we think with those of what would be the typical or expected taste profile for each should be. Just to see how we fare.
Wines and Ratings in this Episode 17:37
Wine: Rosa Regale Brachetto d’Acqui
Region: Italy, Piedmont
Producer: Banfi
Year: 2020
Price: $17.99
Retailer: Total Wine
Alcohol: 7%
What we tasted and smelled: red licorice, sweet, cotton candy, candy, strawberry candy, pink Starburst, strawberry syrup, cherry, pomegranate.
Great combination with the milk chocolate, chocolate cake, and the Baby Bite.
Rating: Joe 7 Carmela 8
Wine: Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Porto
Region: Portugal,
Producer: W & J Graham (UK based)
Year: NV
Price: $16.97
Retailer: Total Wine
Alcohol: 19.5%
Grapes: Touriga Nacional, Tinta Roriz, Tinta Barroca are the main grapes
What we tasted and smelled: rubbing alcohol, musty, fig, plum, fig jam, dark red fruit, menthol, hydrogen peroxide, Vicks Vaporub, church wine, sugary, cinnamon, spice, nutmeg, baking spice, pumpkin pie spice, pepper. Smells like grandpa’s basement and mushrooms. Smell of honey, black strap molasses.
Good combination with dark chocolate, not with milk chocolate. Not romantic, more of an adventure. Would be good with cayenne chocolate.
Rating: Joe 6 Carmela 5
Wine: Shenandoah vineyards Zinfandel (honestly chose this b/c of the label, because that is what I figured a lot of people do)
Region: California, Amador
Producer: Sobon wine company
Year: 2019
Price: $12.99
Retailer: Total Wine
Alcohol: 14.5%
What we tasted and smelled: gunpowder, fireworks, stinky, gasoline, sweat, spice, oregano, old pepperoni pizza, meat, pepper, cherry, rock, caca.
Not a good combination with anything. Bad wine! However, a good Zinfandel and dark chocolate or a dark fudgy chocolate cake would be a good pairing.
Rating: Joe 2 Carmela 3
Taste profiles expected 41:20
- Brachetto d’Acqui (milk chocolate, white chocolate, hazelnut chocolate)
- Candied strawberry, orange zest, black currant, apricot, cream. Scent of rose. Raspberry. Tar. Clover. Flowers like violets and orchids
- Ruby Port (milk chocolate, dark chocolate)
- Sweet black fruits, chocolate, spice.
- Raspberry, cherry, and plum with subtle cinnamon, clove, and dark chocolate tasting notes
- Sweet raspberry sauce, cinnamon stick and red hots.
- black currant, stewed blackberry and blueberry. There are notes of black pepper and spice mid-palate.
- Zinfandel (dark chocolate)
- Ripe blackberry, cherry, cocoa, pepper, spice, strawberry, peach preserves, cinnamon, sweet tobacco, hickory, crushed gravel, plum, allspice, star anise
The Brachetto d'Acqui and milk chocolate is a perfect wine pairing for Valentine’s Day!
Outro and how to find us 44:11
Ok - for those of you who are still listening, we would love to hear from you. Tell us what you like and what you don’t like, tell us about some wines you want us to try, tell us if you want to be a guest on our show. Or, just tell us about a wine you love or you hate and we’ll chat it up. You can visit our website at thewinepairpodcast.com and leave a voice message or send us a note. You can comment or reach out on Instagram at thewinepairpodcast and follow us on Pinterest at thewinepairpodcast. You can reach out to us at joe@thewinepairpodcast.com and we would LOVE to hear your comments. And we hope you’ll subscribe and follow us and tell all your friends and family and enemies and loved ones and everyone!
Thanks for listening to the Wine Pair podcast, and we will see you next time. And, as we say, life is short, so stop drinking shitty wine