Hosting a chocolate tasting with Seattle’s Theo Chocolate not only allowed us to taste some really incredible chocolate concoctions, it gave us the opportunity to challenge our wine pairing skills. We pushed ourselves to select wines that you wouldn’t normally think as a natural match for chocolate.

Beware: reading on might lead to extreme jealousy and mild pangs of hunger.

So here’s what we came up with:

Bread and Chocolate Dark — 2006 Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs Brut, Sonoma, California

The idea here was to match the bread and salt components in the chocolate with the yeast and CO2 elements of the wine, respectively.  This turned out to be one of the more successful pairings of the night.  Comments from the tasters: “Very refreshing”, “Definitely a 1 + 1 = 3.”

Madagascar Dark (74% cacao) — 2007 Monastero Suore Cistercensi “Coenobium”, Lazio, Italy

When we originally tasted this chocolate, we were surprised by its pronounced citrus flavor.  This was not long after our orange wine tasting, so orange wines were present in our minds and palates.  The chocolate is fantastic and the wine is a store favorite, but together, they didn’t mesh.  Hey, you can’t win ‘em all, right?  Comments from the tasters: “I’m left with a sour taste…”, “Epic failure.”

Coconut Curry Milk Chocolate — 2008 Dowsett Family Gewurtztraminer, Columbia Gorge, Washington

When we first tasted the coconut curry chocolate, we practically all said in unison, ‘gewurtztraminer!’.  The warm spice and gentle heat would love the rich spice and exotic floral aromas of gewurtz.  Dowsett fit the bill for its varietal typicity, as well as its relative dryness.  Success! Comments from the tasters: (none — mostly just oohs and ahs…)

Fig, Fennel, & Almond Dark — 2007 Roagna Dolcetto, Piemonte, Italy

This was one of our favorite chocolates from the original tasting.  We were all thinking Piemonte to pair, probably since you will sometimes find fig and fennel flavors already present in some of the region’s wines.  We went with the best dolcetto of the year, which tended to enhance the fennel flavor in the chocolate.

Ghana Dark (84% cacao) — 2007 Sattler St. Laurent, Neusiedlersee, Austria

The single origin dark chocolate from Ghana is the most dark and roasty of the ones we featured, showing lots of espresso and smoke.  We paired it with a St. Laurent from Austria, which is in the same varietal family as pinot noir, in an effort to maximize the contrast between dark chocolate and bright, fruity wine.

Dark Chocolate with Mint — 2003 Henry’s Drive Shiraz, Padthaway, Australia

Probably the biggest challenge in pairing was mint, since it has such a strong, pervasive mouthfeel.  Fortunately, Theo’s mint chocolate is a subtler version, due to the blend of spearmint and peppermint oils.  Shiraz came to mind for two reasons: one, it might play as the mint jelly to the meatiness of the wine, and two, menthol occasionally makes an appearance in some big Aussies.  All in all, pretty favorable results.

So, are you jealous yet?  Don’t fret, we’re already planning another chocolate and wine tasting for February.  Stay tuned!