Chocolate and Port wine: how to pair
The golden rule for pairing chocolate and Port: the wine should be as sweet and intense as the chocolate, or more. A delicate Port beside a very dark chocolate is lost; a full-bodied Port with a mild milk chocolate overwhelms it. You are looking for balance.
Three sure pairs
Tawny with praline and caramel. The nutty, fig and vanilla notes of an aged Tawny (10 or 20 years) mirror the caramelised hazelnut of a praline — one of the happiest pairs we know.
Ruby or LBV with fruit chocolate. The red fruit and freshness of a Ruby or Late Bottled Vintage accompany raspberry or passionfruit bonbons without smothering them.
Vintage with intense dark chocolate. Only a Vintage, structured and powerful, can hold a very dark, bitter cacao. Serve the Port lightly cool, in small measures, and take a sip before and after each bonbon — the order changes everything. For a full flight, see the Chef's Selection.
Port styles at a glance
| Style | Tastes of | Pair with | Serve at |
|---|---|---|---|
| White (sweet) | Citrus peel, honey, almond | White chocolate, almond, coconut | 6–10 °C |
| Ruby | Young red fruit | Raspberry, cherry, red-fruit ganache | 14–16 °C |
| LBV | Riper fruit, more body | Fruit fillings in a darker shell | 14–16 °C |
| Tawny 10 / 20 | Dried fig, nuts, caramel, vanilla | Caramel, praline, milk chocolate | 12–14 °C |
| Vintage | Dense black fruit, firm tannin | Dark chocolate of 70% and above | 16–18 °C, decanted |
Why Port, and not a dry red
Sugar in the mouth makes any wine taste drier. Beside a bonbon, a dry red turns thin, sour and bitter. Port is a fortified wine: brandy is added during fermentation, which stops it while much of the grape’s natural sugar is still there, and leaves it at around 19 to 22% alcohol. That sweetness and weight are exactly what chocolate asks for, which is why the golden rule works.
Our bonbons with Port, and its neighbours
- Obsidian Pearl with an aged Tawny. The dried fruit, caramel and oak of the wine wrap the salted caramel; its sweetness softens the fleur de sel.
- Raspberry Diamond with a Ruby or LBV. Red fruit against red fruit: the wine makes the raspberry ganache stand out.
- Beyond Port. Two other Portuguese fortified wines follow the same rule. A Madeira Boal, with toasted nuts and orange peel, suits Cocomond Diamond and the chestnut of Winter Ember; a Moscatel de Setúbal, all orange and honey, follows the passion-fruit caramel of Amber Noir.
Each creation’s page carries its own pairing card, with the wine, a spirit and a tea.
How to serve a pairing at home
- Small glasses. About 40 to 50 ml per wine is enough; this is a tasting, not a round.
- From light to intense. White, then Ruby, then Tawny, then Vintage, and the bonbons in the same order, fruit before caramel before the darkest cacao.
- Sip, melt, sip. A sip first, then let the bonbon melt instead of chewing it, then a second sip: that is when the two meet.
- Chocolate at room temperature. Straight from the fridge it gives almost nothing. See how to store fine chocolate.
