Bar Exam

Exploring the unexpected similarities between chocolate and wine

By Greg Norton

“Wine is a treat, and chocolate is a treat. Why not enjoy them together?” asks a woman juggling her glass and a chocolate sample at an urban wine walk. She seemed to have it all figured out. “Why choose between the two when you can have both?”

I pondered that exchange while pouring rosé and Chardonnay at Azar Indulgences, tucked into the front corner of Portland's Heathman Hotel, where proprietor Christine Azar paired each wine with chocolate samples.

Wine and chocolate rank among nature's most delicious– and complex– gifts. Both can impart a wide range of origin-revealing flavors, yet also convey the style, values and intentions of those who craft them.

But do the two belong together? Always a skeptic, I decided to learn more.

Common Threads

As with fine wine, high-quality chocolate is sourced from specific regions, lending distinct flavors to the final product. Both also benefit from the careful craft of makers working in small batches.

Chocolate starts its journey on tropical cacao trees filled with brightly colored pods. The “cocoa belt” runs roughly 20 degrees either side of the equator, where trees thrive in humid rainforest conditions. Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana produce nearly half of the world's chocolate, according to the nonprofit organization Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa. Other leading producers include neighboring African countries, along with Indonesia, Mexico and nations in South America.

Within each pod are beans surrounded by a sweet, sticky pulp. Farmers harvest the ripe pods, scoop out the beans and ferment them for several days.

Fermentation is necessary to remove the raw bitterness. The beans are then dried, often out in the open sunshine. Growing location, fermentation and drying process all contribute to a chocolate's terroir.

Once dried, the beans are shipped to chocolate makers, who roast them to their own specifications to deepen their aroma and flavors. After roasting, the brittle husks are removed, revealing the inner nib. These are ground into a thick, rich paste before being blended with sugar, milk, cocoa butter or other flavorings.

Batches are slowly stirred and smoothed until silky. Tempering gives chocolate its glossy finish and satisfying snap. Other “stir-ins,” such as nuts, may be added before the mixture is shaped into bars or truffles. The percentage of cacao indicates the proportion made from nibs and cocoa butter versus sugar and other additives.

Shared Craft

Like wine, chocolate may be mass-produced or crafted by “bean-to-bar” makers using unique beans to create small, distinctive batches.

“In craft chocolate, we are trying to highlight unique notes imparted by the land, sky and farmer,” notes Eric Keppler of Stache Chocolate, a “nano batch” producer in Hillsboro. His creatively blended flavors reflect decades of experience as a pastry chef and winner of HGTV's third season of “Best Baker in America.” His bars feature unexpected additions like chai tea, chilis and even bits of locally baked rye bread.

“Once I understand the bean's characteristics, whether nutty, citrusy, berry fruity, dried fruit, raisin, fig, earthy, etc., I design a bar like I would a dessert,” he explains. “Pairing those notes to wine is fun and can be a magical thing when done correctly, elevating both the wine and chocolate to be greater than their individual parts.”

Common Conscience

The wine world's attention on sustainable farming and treatment of vineyard stewards shares parallels in the chocolate industry. Cocoa's extensive supply chain adds to the cost paid by the end consumer. Unfortunately, little flows back to the cacao farmers, resulting in extreme poverty and extensive use of child labor and even slavery, especially in the small plantations of West Africa. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, more than two million children in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire work in hazardous conditions growing cacao.

Because cacao trees thrive in rainforests, the industry is responsible for significant deforestation as soils are depleted and yields on existing farms decline.

Chocolate is also a water-intensive product. The Water Footprint Network estimates nearly 1,700 gallons of water is needed to produce a single pound of chocolate. By comparison, a pound of beef requires 1,800.

Wine labels frequently display the logos of various sustainability certifications. Similar programs exist for ethically sourced chocolate. Fair Trade, Fair Trade Certified and Rainforest Alliance/UTZ certifications aid consumers, although even these efforts draw criticism for insufficient inspections and accountability. The Food Empowerment Project, a food justice nonprofit, maintains a list of recommended chocolate producers and those to avoid on its website and smartphone app.

Back to Basics

“If you want to pair with chocolate, the wine has to be at least as sweet, if not sweeter than the dessert,” explains Levi Seed, director of hospitality and lead sommelier at the Joel Palmer House restaurant in Dayton. “Something like Port or Pedro Ximénez [Sherry] or Madeira, all have depth, sweetness, complexity, and can stand beside chocolate without being crushed by it.” Lambrusco, Moscato d'Asti and sparkling wines labeled demi-sec or doux are also possible options.

Rather than solely matching tasting notes, Seed focuses on the structure of both the wine and food. “It's not how the wine smells or tastes, but instead about how the wine feels physically on your palate.” Alcohol, sugar, body, weight and texture all come into play.

He explains how in all wine-and-food pairings, the five basic elements of taste– sweet, sour, salt, bitterness and umami– can be experienced as congruent (sweet with sweet) or complementary (sour with sweet– like the lemons and sugar in lemonade). How chocolate is combined with other flavors in a dessert, truffle or bar will influence the success of a pairing.

Getting Into It

Willamette Valley Vineyards partners with Whimsy Chocolates, a family business in Battle Ground, Washington. Initially, their flavored meltaways were destined for the winery's gift shop, but soon became the centerpiece of seasonal tasting flights.

In a meltaway, coconut oil is blended with chocolate, forming a solid candy with a rich texture. At the Willamette Valley Vineyards’ tasting room in Turner, a sparkling Brut might be paired with a strawberry champagne meltaway, a Sauvignon Blanc with one modeled on key lime pie and a Black Forest truffle matched with a Pinot Noir.

At Dayton’s Domaine Willamette, Whimsy’s meltaways are infused with the very sparkling wines they accompany. Dried fruits, such as oranges and strawberries, are soaked in the wine and then combined with white chocolate. A pinch of Pop Rocks candy ties the texture to the wine's bubbles.

“It finishes with a little bit of a fizz, nothing wild or obnoxious,” observes Whimsy's co-owner Pamela Wanous. “We wanted to make it very delicate and enjoyable.”

Wanous regularly meets with Willamette Valley Vineyards’ staff to taste new combinations. Notes of the most successful pairings are saved for future vintages.
“This partnership is exciting not only for wine lovers but also for our team,” notes Dianira Piceno, communications associate at Willamette Valley Vineyards. “We rotate our wine flights and chocolate tastings every month to keep the experience fresh and give guests something new.”

Additional Artisan Collaborations

Karl Mecklem and Raechel Gano at Eagle's Nest Reserve in Hillsboro have collaborated with Stache Chocolate to create custom complements for their Pinot Noirs, Rosé and Blanc de Noir. Gano recalls the like-mindedness during their initial meeting three years ago.

“Eric was talking about sourcing different beans and how cacao’s growing region can affect the flavors of the beans, without even adding anything to the bars,” she recalls.

Keppler created flavored chocolate to pair with three wines. To single-source chocolates from Vietnam, Peru and Madagascar, he adds savory elements like chamomile, cassava root, seaweed, cardamom and peppercorns. He also uses sweeter elements, such as pear, honeydew, oat milk and bee pollen.

“There is this really nice dance that happens with wine and chocolate,” adds Mecklem, citing the complementary elements of cocoa butter's fat and acidity of the wine. The chocolate's purity and added flavors allow Keppler to reduce the prominence of sugar.

“What Eric crafts is very well balanced,” notes Mecklem. “You experience these flavor waves that evolve as you taste, with various ingredients standing out before the finish ends in a combination.”

It Gets Complicated

“I think there's nothing worse than pairing the wrong chocolate and wine,” observes Azar, a native of Lebanon. That region's sweets and flavors are reflected in the products she sells at Azar Indulgences.

She recalls a meeting with a skeptical winemaker. What would pair with his delicious GSM blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre? The answer was a truffle featuring za'atar, a Middle Eastern seasoning that combines oregano, sumac, sesame and more. “We made it in a milk chocolate, and it went so beautifully with the GSM; he was blown away,” she notes. They immediately tried a brownie with the same wine. “It was gross,” she confesses. “All we tasted from the chocolate brownie was the oils… it was just awful with it.”

Sweetness level is an essential consideration when seeking delicious combinations. Azar notes how sugar can mask a chocolate’s own unique flavor as well as those that accompany it. Describing her shop's berry cheesecake truffle, she explains, “You can taste the fruit inside the truffle, but also savor the dark chocolate because it’s not as sweet. They play off of each other, really, really well.”

Trial and Error

I was beginning to understand how experimentation is key to discovering successful combinations.

During a chance meeting at a wine tasting, Rik Shattil and I discovered a shared interest in chocolate and wine pairing. We arranged to meet at La Biblioteca Wine's tasting room, located in the Dundee Hotel, armed with a dozen chocolate bars made in Oregon and beyond.

Monica Swanson, La Biblioteca's hospitality manager, joined our tasting, presenting glasses of 2022 Estate Reserve Chardonnay (28 percent new French oak) and two Pinot Noirs from McMinnville: 2022 Title Page (a single-vineyard, whole cluster, Pommard clone, 25 percent new French oak) and 2021 End Papers (a single-vineyard, Pommard clone, 25 percent new French oak). We also tasted a North Valley Vineyards 2022 Columbia Valley Cabernet Franc (a single-vineyard from Washington’s Red Mountain, aged in neutral French oak) from the neighboring tasting room on the hotel's ground floor.

Purchased from Portland area grocery stores with selections that rivaled the wine departments, we tasted mostly unflavored dark bar chocolate, primarily from local producers.

I hoped this experience would provide me with specific pairing guidelines. The only rule I learned: try and see. Here are my takeaways:

Seventy percent cacao seems to be an ideal match. Higher cacao percentages were more earthy and roasty, but generally less palatable with red wines.
A package’s “Nutrition Facts” allows you to compare ingredients, especially sugar levels. The type of sugar also affects flavor.

Sugar content doesn't always yield the result one might expect. Nor does the addition of salt, nuts or other flavors. This was truly “trial and error.”
La Biblioteca’s Title Page Pinot Noir, with its stem inclusion, had a savory structure, making it the most consistently successful pairing partner.

The most astounding match was a Belgian milk chocolate (33 percent cacao) with Chardonnay. Of everything we sampled, this combination delivered the sought-after ideal of something greater than the sum of its parts. The flavors of the lightly oaked wine brought out the chocolate’s rich dairy notes, creating a mouth-filling caramel.

Chocolate and Wine

Will I order a glass of Pinot Noir with a chocolate dessert instead of a cup of coffee? Probably not. But I might snap off a square of artisanal chocolate while enjoying a glass of wine at home.

Wine and chocolate are among nature's most delicious treats. Combining them can be magical, but unlikely to happen accidentally. And, as with wine alone, a successful pairing is in the “mouth of the beholder.” What delights one palate may repel another.

Fortunately, Oregon's thriving communities of winemakers and chocolatiers offer endless combinations to explore. The only rule? Try and see.

Sidebar: Portland Craft Chocolate Festival

Portland and the Pacific Northwest have become a hub for craft chocolate over the past two decades. Sharing the ethos of Oregon winemakers, many are concerned about ethical farming practices and directly sourcing beans while using minimal-ingredient, low-intervention recipes and crafting small quantities.
What began with a few pioneers has grown significantly. Over 30 makers and nearly 2,000 attendees gathered for the weekend-long Portland Craft Chocolate Festival last October. (This year’s event is October 2-4. Visit www.pdxccf.com to learn more.) A post-festival press release quotes George Domurot, founder of Ranger Chocolate Co., reflecting on the inaugural year: “The enthusiasm from both participants and guests shows that there's a true appetite for the craft chocolate movement here.”

Greg Norton is a freelance writer with a broad background in nonprofit communications and the arts. He studied journalistic writing through the UCLA Extension and has traveled to wine regions around the world. Greg is a Certified Specialist of Wine and received the Level II award from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust. When not writing about wine, he can be found pouring it in a tasting room or wine bar near West Linn, where he lives. Read more by Greg at www.onthevine.blog.