The Sweet Introduction of Dessert Wine & Chocolate

      When I first started drinking wine, I wanted the sweet stuff. Honestly, I wanted liquid candy. I went straight for any and all labels that had the word "sweet" within the description. Needless to say, if my eyes caught gaze with a "dessert" wine, it was in my shopping cart within .2 seconds. Thankfully, through my wine class, I have learned that dessert wines are best served with, well, dessert and most importantly, sipped in small portions.

       One of my favorite winery classes consisted of a wine and cheese tasting; not just any wine tasting, this class offered us an array of over ten cheeses from Wisconsin and around ten bottles of wine. My favorite pairing of all was chocolate cheese and raspberry dessert wine. It tasted like heaven on earth. I will never forget the sensation of the two flavors- it forever changed my palate.

      While I have been visiting my parents this summer, I have introduced them (almost every night) to a different pairing. Tonight we relived my winery pairing class. We had cherry dessert wine and chocolate fudge brownies. While there is no formal way to drink and eat, I have noticed a certain order that enhances the flavors. What I learned in class, and what I have noticed, is that the wine tastes best when the mouth is coated with the dessert. So, dessert-->wine-->dessert. It's that simple but commonly confused.

      Dessert wine is very sweet, sugary, syrupy, and quite unpleasant to drink completely alone (in my opinion). They are also to be consumed after a meal, not during as most reds and whites are. Dessert wines are not gulped. No, you want to sip small amounts. Dessert wines are also sold in smaller bottles, I believe, for this reason. If you are not sure of the brand, check the bottle.

     This combination was easy to pair with music, as it made me feel as if I was in a French cafe restaurant, sitting at a table in the back corner surrounded by soft red and cream auras created by the light ambiance. I'm sitting in a big, lush red chair enjoying my chocolate and sipping sweet, creamy dessert wine....but I digress. None the less, here is its pairing:

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Hue: Red
-Cherry Dessert Wine
-Tomasello Winery

Tunes:
Tu Es Ma Came- Carla Bruni (because she has the beautiful French cafe voice)

La Vie En Rose- Louis Armstrong (because its Louis Armstrong)