Red Wine and Chocolate

Anyone who has ever participated in one of my food and wine pairing evenings has heard me state that I am NOT a fan of the red wine and chocolate combination. Truly, it goes against the rule of food and wine pairing that states “the sweetness of the wine should meet or exceed the sweetness of the dish”. Why is this? A sweeter dish will make your wine seem thin and tart. Try this for yourself at home: get a piece of milk or dark (not bittersweet) chocolate along with a taste of dry red wine and a taste of ruby port or (my fav chocolate pairing) Banyuls. Take a sip of the red wine and notice how it feels in your mouth. Then take a bite of chocolate, and try the wine again. Notice the difference…there will be one. Try the same thing with the sweeter wine. There will still be a difference, but a good one that enhances the wine and the chocolate.
That being said (I’ll get off my soapbox now), I decided to challenge myself with these two new releases to find dishes that incorporated chocolate and paired well with red wine. In my research, I found recipes that ranged from interesting to indulgent. The two I settled on are both fabulous.
For the Boushey Red Wine, I decided to once again attempt a traditional mole that uses chocolate at the very end of cooking. I’ve played around with mole several times and finally found a combination of methods that worked for me. Warning – it does take close to 4 hours to prepare. However, many of the steps overlap and the whole thing can be a pretty fun time in the kitchen. Of all the things that have come out of my kitchen, I think this was one of the best received. The mole itself is vegetarian, as I was entertaining quite a diverse crowd the night we made this. However, feel free to sub in either chicken broth for the veg or incorporate the cooking liquids from your chicken. Check out the final result here.
Ben and I made short ribs with thyme and chocolate for a special night in to pair with the Red Mountain Red Wine. Both of us were a little skeptical going into the whole thing, but were very pleased with the results. The chocolate is a subtle accent that is rounded out by the veggies and thyme in the dish. While it does take some cooking time, the dish is pretty simple to put together with very elegant results.
Happy cooking and sipping!
 

Mar 11, 2011 at 8:42 AM

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