Admittedly, wine with chocolate is not an easy pairing to make.  Wine and chocolate each have strong, individual tastes that vary from maker to maker and batch to batch.  But a good wine is an experience in itself and chocolate lovers insist the same is true of chocolate.  Pairing the right wine, with the right chocolate is worth the trouble.

It’s also bound to be an experience of trial and error, but for those who are thinking of trying this wine tasting and chocolate eating are a pleasure and not a chore.  When choosing which wine to begin with, sweeter varieties are necessary.  And the sweeter the chocolate, the sweeter the wine must usually be to avoid the perception of being bitter or sour.  The stronger the chocolate—that is, the higher the cocoa content, or the darker it is—the more full-bodied the wine should be.

If planning a gathering to taste wine and chocolate, know that the usual order of chocolate tasting is from light to dark, mildest to strongest.  This is much the same as with wine tasting, so pairings may be done at the same time.

A safe bet if planning simply to serve the two together is milk chocolate and a sweet Ruby Port.