Like other food and beverage pairings, chocolate and wine pairing comes down to your palate and how you distinguish flavors.  Some people look for wines that match small flavors – nutty, fruity, minty, etc – as in some chocolates, or they look for contrasts. Some say that wine-tasting is about 85% smell and 15% taste.  It’s the opposite with chocolate-tasting, which is about 85% taste and 15% smell. 
 
The adventure of chocolate and wine pairing is discovering what you like best and exploring the different flavors.  There are no right answers.  The more you know about the nuances of your favorite wines and chocolates, the easier it is to match them by their similar characteristics.  Invite some of your friends over and experiment together.  Write down your thoughts and share them with us.

The best way to begin pairing chocolate with wine is to select several varieties of chocolates, starting with subtle white chocolate and ending with dark or bittersweet chocolates. Or, start off with pure chocolate and then evolve into the chocolate with nuts, fruits, tea infusions and buttery mixtures, and end up with the whites.

We recommend starting with no more than six varieties of chocolate.  Depending upon how elaborate you want to get – from pieces of chocolate bars to truffles – start with your favorite chocolates first, then adventure into the unlimited world of chocolate choices.  Since both chocolate and wine are manufactured with a wide range of residual sugar, your palate will be in heaven.
 
Pick out some of your favorite wines – white and red – probably no more than three of each.  Pull out your favorite wine glasses and pour out no more than an ounce of wine. 
Now you are ready to begin:

• Take two small pieces of the same chocolate and rub their edges together.  Smell the chocolate and place it into your mouth.  Let it melt.  When your chocolate has nearly disappeared, sip the wine and splash it around your mouth
• Describe what you are tasting
• Repeat and continue the process or “flight.”