Red Wine and Chocolate? An Evening with the Washington Wine Academy

Posted by | Posted in Wine Events, Wine Reviews | Posted on 02-21-2012

The Athenaeum in Alexandria, Va.

Last week, the Washington Wine Academy hosted a “Red Wine and Chocolate Wine” Event at the Athenaeum in Alexandria, Virginia — just before the holiday officially sponsored by the chocolate and greeting card industries, Valentine’s Day.

I was fortunate enough to attend, where I tasted nearly 20 different wines in a beautiful art gallery packed with wine aficionados from throughout the Washington area. (As an aside, if you ever have the chance to visit the Athenaeum — or better yet, attend a private event there — take advantage. The space is tremendous.)

Although red wine and chocolate are often linked — thanks in no small part to their shared status in or culture as aphrodisiacs — the two strike many as less than a perfect match. (The Terroirist-in-Chief certainly thinks so, at the very least.)

I tend to agree, and so I forewent the many chocolate candies and cakes on offer to focus on the wines.

I asked Alex Evans, the Director of Education at the Academy, why she chose to highlight the chocolate-red wine pairing. She acknowledged that in most cases, the two were not ideal mates. But very few people can pass up a smorgasbord of 20 wines and a buffet of chocolate treats.

Given the high turnout, she had a point.

Evans poured an eclectic mix of wines, including several varietals I’d never encountered.

For my palate, the all stars included two offerings from French producer Ferraton Pere et Fils — a 2009 Tavel Les Lauses rose and a 2007 Crozes-Hermitage Le Grand Courtil. The rose was fun, with vibrant acidity up front, a surprisingly thick mouthfeel, and demonstrative fruit flavors that stopped short of being over-bearing. I normally turn to roses in the summer, but with its heft, this wine felt appropriate for colder weather.

The Crozes-Hermitage was an archetypal syrah. The nose was a bit muted, but the meat and pepper shone through just enough. On the palate, a tiny bit of under-ripe, complex fruit and skin flavors surfaced before the syrah characteristics– particularly the peppery, savory secondary notes — popped. Definitely not a pairing for chocolate.

Other noteworthy wines in the first group included a 2008 Yamhill Valley Vineyards Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley and a 2010 Beck Zweigelt from Burgenland in Austria. The Yamhill was earthy, with dirt-covered, slightly under-ripe fruits and sticky tannins. Evans likened the Zweigelt — a varietal previously unknown to me — to pinot, but I found it darker. Green plants revealed themselves on the nose, and the savory, earthy palate had the rough texture of dark chocolate. Both wines were quite popular among my fellow tasters when paired with white chocolate.

Another mystery varietal for me was Gropello, in the form of a 2009 Averoldi from Italy’s Lombardy region. This wine featured a full nose, with what struck me as anise and candied cherries. As the wine passed over my palate, I felt as if I was eating the outer portion of a cherry, right next to the skin.

The second group of wines was much heavier than the first and began with a lineup from Argentine producer Finca Decero.

The previous evening, Finca Decero’s winemaker, Marcos Fernandez, led what sounded like a fascinating event for the WWA. Participants tasted through Finca Decero’s single-varietal offerings and then made their own red blends in the mold of Fernandez’s own blend. I learned from Evans that some blends came close to the master’s — and some, well, did not.

Finca Decero’s 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon really captured my fancy. It was much lighter than a typical cab, with surprisingly red fruits, some meatiness, and cigar-box notes. The wine reminded me of cabernet franc but with a bit more smoothness.

The other components of the blend — a 2009 Malbec and a 2009 Petit Verdot — were representative of big Argentine red wines. The former was ripe, with dessert-style aromas and black fruits. The latter smelled like a fruit and oak monster but was pleasantly restrained on the palate, where vanilla and cobbler notes broke through without being overbearing.

Fernandez’s blend — which he christens the “Amano” — included a tiny bit of tannat in addition to the grapes above and smelled like Christmas. It was balanced and well-made, with lots of vanilla and big fruits. The nose outperformed the palate.

Two Bordeaux style-blends from Virginia followed — a 2007 Pearmund Cellars Ameritage and a 2008 Boxwood Winery Topiary. I found the latter more expressive than the former, with a ripe, fleshy, meaty, green nose and savory, ripe red fruits on the palate.

The lineup finished with a wine of comic proportions — the N.V. Red Decadence from Walla Walla, Washington. It tasted like chocolate-flavored wine. Evans posited that the wine was made by infusing chocolate essence into fermenting bulk grapes — literally dumping chocolate into a barrel (or perhaps vat) of red wine. Certainly not something for the wine lover in your life — but maybe for someone with a bit of a sweet tooth and an appreciation for the novel.

While the Crozes-Hermitage took top honors from me, the most popular wines among those in attendance included the Gropello, a 2010 Fratelli Alessandria Barbera d’Alba, and the Zweigelt.

As long as boyfriends and husbands are shopping for Valentine’s Day gifts for their sweeties at the last minute, red wine and chocolate will likely retain their association. But next year, rather than reaching for a bottle of cab and a box of milk chocolate, consider white chocolate and Zweigelt or dark chocolate and Barbera.

Comments (2)

  1. Similar thinking goes into making wine and chocolate, and that’s what makes them difficult to pair. Particular beans, roasted in a specific way, blended just so — sound familiar? This means that while you may be able to pair a specific wine with a specific chocolate, there aren’t really general rules that will help. And since taste is so individual, even a pairing that specific won’t appeal to everyone.

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