When you think of
Valentine’s Day, it is hard not to think of chocolate. Like wine, good
chocolate is a pleasure worth savouring. If you don’t want to make a dessert,
head for La Maison du Chocolat. This world-renowned French company produces
goodies that are guaranteed to set your taste buds alight.
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| The wine room at Chewton Glen |
Oscar Malek, head sommelier at Chewton Glen, one of the UK’s top-notch
country house hotels, recommends pairing something red and sweet with chocolate
such as a fortified sweet wine from Banyuls. Grenache-based, it goes well with
dark chocolate. Solera Banyuls Hors Age, Domaine Madeloc, Pierre Gaillard, (half litre, £36.60, bbr.com)
is a wonderful
complex wine from the South of France. Think toffee, caramel, walnuts and
dates.
Maury also produces some delicious sweet red wines. Made from at least 75
per cent grenache noir, these are full-bodied sweet reds that pack a punch. Waitrose
Seriously Plummy Grande Réserve Maury NV (£10.99, Waitrose) is an intensely
plumy wine that works well with rich chocolate desserts.
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| La Maison du Chocolat |
Also Oscar suggests checking out some of the sparkling reds. Brown
Brothers Cienna Rosso (£9.99, Waitrose) is an unusual red fizz bursting with
berry flavours. It is low in alcohol (7.5 per cent), so is light and
refreshing.
Sparkling wines are made all over the world, but they are not champagne.
Only the ones produced in the Champagne region of France are the real thing.
Crémant, from regions in France such as Alsace and Limoux, is also made
by using the traditional method – that is the bubbles are produced by a second
fermentation that takes place once the wine is in the bottle. An alternative to
pink champagne is Blason de Bourgogne Brut Rosé NV Crémant de Bourgogne, (£12.99,
Waitrose). Bursting with raspberry flavours, it tantalises the taste buds.
If you are worried about hangovers, Oscar says you should look for wines
that are low in alcohol. “The more the wine is fermented, it tends to contain
more alcohol and more sulphur,” he says.
By Daralyn Danns
