Chocolate and Wine, Easier than you Think

There can be few better ways to start a Monday morning than tasting chocolates from Britain’s best chocolatier, William Curley matched with exquisite wine from the South of France. However, that was how my week started on a wet and miserable autumn London morning, the warming sweet wine of the South were to warm the palate and chocolate got the dopamine flowing.
Sarah Jane Evans MW under took some exhausting research to show the range and versatility the vin doux naturels of the South of France. Whilst the grapes and style of the wines differed, the production shared one common approach, the fermentation of the grape juice is stopped by the addition of grape spirit; the exact same method used in the production of Port. The addition of the spirit raises the alcohol to a level that kills off the yeast and retains the unfermented sugars in the must. The high alcohols and sugars lead to robust wines that have can be long lived but additionally, show more delicate charms whilst young. We tasted some delicate whites and some wood and bottle aged wine as well as solera aged wine. The later is blend of wines of different ages, like Sherry, the producer will keep a library of wines and will blend these vintages to give fabulous complexity and consistency.

The wines were matched with a range of pastries and chocolate.

Domaine Barroubio Muscat de St Jean de Minervois  AOC Languedoc £12.50( Wine Society)

The first food match was a small fruit tart, with crème patisserie on a short pastry base. The wine was pale straw in colour with a hint of green, it was fresh and smelted of lemons and elderflower. The mouth-feel was soft and warm with peaches, apricots and butterscotch. Nice acidy to deal with the crème, serve cool but not too cold. It was suggested that this might  suit some Christmas mince pies too! For  another excellent Muscat de St Jean try this one from Alizarin Wine

Clos de l’Amandaie, Les Menades 2008 Pay d’Oc IGP c£30

Our pastry was a delicious mini Paris-Brest (named in honour of the cycle race), crisp choux pastry filled with praline cream and red jam.  The wine chosen had a pale golden colour with rich, darker edges. The smell was sublime, roasted oranges, apricots and barley sugar, slightly reductive. The flavour was equally wonderful; intense orange peel with apricot jam and brioche.

Domaine Cazes, Ambré 1999, 16% Rivesaltes AOC, Roussillon £15

This biodynamic wine benefits from 7 years of oak aging and brings a complexity not dissimilar to tawny port. A mixture of Grenache blanc and gris grapes, it was matched with a dark chocolate granache with crunchy praline. The wine was dark amber, the colour of old wooden chairs. It had a heady, nutty aroma with rich dried apricots and peach. The flavour was a fresh but dense, dark and citrus. The combination with the chocolate brought out the orange notes in the mouth.

Domaine Coume du Roy, 16.5% 2008 Maury AOC, Roussillon

We are now looking at some of the red sweet wines of the south, the port parallel becomes stronger, but the French wines have a freshness and are lighter in alcohol. The Coume du Roy is a dense, deep purple colour, slightly cloudy at the edge with a dark, brambly jammy nose; lots of new leather, cassis and raspberries. The flavour is simpler; sweet cherries and liquorice. Paired with a cassis and hibiscus granache in a  crisp dark chocolate shell the flavours suddenly boom into my mouth, an explosion of cassis that reduces the already soft tannins and tastes altogether less sweet.

Domaine de la Rectorie, Cuveé Parcés Frère 2010, Banyuls AOC, Roussillon £17.60

A sliver of crystallised grapefruit peel encases in crisp dark chocolate and coated in nibs of cocoa bean, delicious in itself but the wine provided a contrasting experience that made each more exciting. The wine was a dense ruby colour with a hint of purple at the edges. The fruit was almost medicinal but varied; prunes, damsons, cherries and raspberries. Balanced with soft tannins and big alcohol, a smooth finish. It matched the cassis and hibiscus granache too, melding into the flavours of each.

 Domaine Vial Magnères, Al Tragou 1986, Banyuls Rancio AOC, Roussillon £35

While ‘Rancio’ may not sound appealing to English ears, there is a real treat in store for those to venture into this bottle. The winemaker does everything he can to spoil this wine, oxygen, extremes of heat and bright sunlight all conspire to produce a dark amber wine with rich, burned apricot  and walnut flavours. The is a tawny-like mix of oxidised citrus, and furniture polish, its all very complex on the nose, not dis-similar to good Armagnac. Yet, the taste is light, fresh toffees and orange/citrus acidity. The young fortified wine is transferred to large, basket-wrapped glass containers known as bonbonnes, they are only 3/4 filled to allow air contact and left out-side in the sunshine for a year. The heat extremes and oxygen madeiraize the wine. This extraordinary wine was drunk with a gourmet Jaffa-cake from William Curley and was a super match, bringing out the big, burned orange peel flavour in the wine.

les Vignerons de Maury, Solera 1928, Maury AOC, Roussillon £19

Rich, dark brown, burned caramel colour (a shade we might call Gavin Henson), an orange rim. A dense dry finish, toasted hazelnuts with orange peel and roses, great crisp acidity and soft tannins. This went very well with the chocolate praline granache, it highlighted the nutty flavours in both items. I am happy to say I have a bottle of this in my wine cupboard!