The two of the world’s favorite comfort foods seem to be Wine and chocolate. A glass of wine can make any dinner more romantic, any bad day a little better and any lonely night a little warmer. A good chocolate has chased away many a case of the bad-breakup-blues, tamed the savagery of a day spent trying to please the boss, and kept many a single girl from crying herself to sleep.

Hosting a wine and chocolates party is somewhat like being a good marriage adviser. White chocolate has its own merits in the chocolate world. Its light, smooth, buttery creaminess helps it to place out among its darker cousins, despite its lack of any real cocoa butter.

Milk chocolate seems too common for a party. After all, it’s been America’s favorite chocolate since 1890’s. Every man experience that makes it a great addition to your wine and chocolate party, especially if all or most of your guests have never been to one before.  Semisweet chocolates, carrying 50 to 69% cacao, have a spicier, fruitier, earthier note to their taste. The wine you pair with them depends on the tones you wish to highlight.

Dark, or bittersweet, chocolate is the ruler of the chocolate world. Dark chocolate is classified while having 70% or more cacao content. This high quantity of cacao is responsible for the “good for you” factor, and gives the chocolate dark, rich, woodsy flavors. Most of the same wines that go well with semisweet chocolate also make good matches with its darker cousin. For a real treat, try coupling a nice dark chocolate with a good cognac.

A successful wine and chocolate party will offer about a dozen sweet varieties of chocolate and the same number of wine combination. Variety is the master key. Don’t just stick with old chocolate bars, either. Dip some fruit in chocolate – strawberries in white would be heavenly with your sparkling wine. Indulge in some truffles – Salty sensations also go well with wine, so perhaps some chocolate covered nuts or pretzels would make a good addition to the menu. For a quick and easy party on the fly, ask each guest to get a treat from one of the chocolate categories (white, milk, semisweet or dark.) Then, have a collection of wines to match up with whatever delights walk through your door. Put some music on the stereo and sip and nip your way into a comfortable, fun evening of tasty delight.

Tags: Chocolate, Chocolates, Dark Chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 1:30 pm and is filed under Chocolates, Dark Chocolates, Milk Chocolates, White Chocolates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.