White
Kendall-Jackson Vintner's Reserve Chardonnay
Kendall-Jackson Vineyards & Winery
Californie · États-Unis
View →Dessert
Chocolate
A wine that's rich and sweet enough to stand up to chocolate's intensity without coming across as thin or bitter.
The pairing
Why it
works.
Chocolate is a demanding partner for wine. Its sweetness, intensity and bitterness can quickly make a dry wine seem harsher and less fruity. To keep the balance, the wine generally needs to offer real sweetness, plenty of fruit and enough intensity.
Dark chocolate calls for more intensity and can work very well with certain sweet red wines or fortified wines. Milk chocolate allows for rounder, fruitier profiles. With white chocolate, which is sweeter and creamier, sweet white wines or certain demi-sec sparkling wines can become more interesting.
In practice
For chocolate, remember a simple rule: the wine shouldn't seem less sweet than the dessert. The darker and more intense the chocolate, the more depth and character the wine needs.
In the glass
What to
look for.
Sweet red wine01
Fortified wine02
Banyuls03
Port04
Demi-sec sparkling wine05
The LPV selection
Four bottles
for this dish.
A selection chosen from our bottle library based on their profile and affinity with this dish.
What to avoid
Very dry, very acidic, or strongly tannic wines that don't have enough fruit and sweetness. Chocolate can make them seem austere and bitter.
When serving
Serve sweet and fortified wines slightly chilled, generally around 10–14 °C depending on the style. A small amount is enough: the goal is to extend the dessert, not weigh it down.