This is a report of our recent experiment pairing various Chocolate Moonshine truffles and fudge (which are not alcoholic despite the name) with different wines. Chocolate Moonshine takes its name from its early days when they made the fudge in the basement of their Pittsburgh-area home. The steaming copper pots so reminded neighbors of copper stills that they called it moonshine fudge. The name stuck along with the nickname of “America’s Favorite Fudge.”

We didn’t set out to explore the world of chocolate and wine pairings, but it has been a delicious journey. Here is the backstory.

We were approached last summer by Rogue Creamery with a proposal to try various wine and cheese (mainly blue cheese) pairings and the exercise proved a spectacular success as reported on The Wine Economist when we mixed and matched the cheeses with some outstanding wines from the El Dorado AVA. The wines made the cheese taste better and more distinctive. The cheeses really brought out some interesting things in the wine. And there were a couple of those magical moments that wine and food pairings so often promise but seldom deliver.

The folks at Chocolate Moonshine proposed a variation on the tasting theme with several of their chocolate treats and some general pairing guidelines. Armed with chocolate, wines, and instructions, Sue and I assembled a group of “usual suspect” research assistants on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and got to work on the Chocolate Moonshine challenge.

Here is a list of the Chocolate Moonshine treats, the general wine recommendations provided by Chocolate Moonshine, and the specific wines we picked for the experiment

• Farmer’s Market Truffle Collection + Prosecco / Zonin Extra Dy Prosecco DOC
• Belgian Chocolate Fudge + Pinot Noir /  Kirkland Signature Russian River Valley Pinot Noir 2022
• Dark Espresso Fudge + Cabernet Sauvignon / Substance CS Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2021
• Belgian Chocolate Walnut Fudge + Tawny Port / Kirkland Signature 10-year-old Tawny Port
• French Vanilla Fudge + Moscato d’Asti / Terrenostre Spatuss Mosato d’Asti DOCG 2022

Tasting and Results

The tasting was very successful and, combined with the Rogue Creamery experiment a few months ago, has created an enthusiasm for adventures of this sort. What did we learn? The wines and the chocolates were all great on their own, but what about the pairings? I think our gang of usual suspects came away with a lot of specific conclusions and one general observation.

The over-arching theme, as Sue put it, is balance. Wine pairing works when the components together achieve a balance (or in some bases a certain tension) that neither had in the same way on its own. That makes sense, doesn’t it? This is about the balance idea in terms of other successful food pairings such as peanut butter and jelly or Oreo cookies and milk.

Richard, for example, smiled with his first taste of the hazelnut chocolate truffle and Zonin Prosecco. The sparkling wine’s effervescence balanced the rich creaminess of the truffle and brought out its flavor. The chocolate and Prosecco pairing was high on just about everyone’s list, as was the classic combination of Belgian chocolate walnut fudge and Tawny Port. Port likes both chocolate and nuts and they like Port back.

Chloe had a complicated reaction to the chocolate fudge and Pinot Noir pairing. She really liked the fudge and she really liked the Pinot, so having them together made her smile. But did they make magic together? Not so clear. Maybe the balance wasn’t right.

That was the story of the Cabernet Sauvignon and espresso fudge pairing. I think everyone thought that this was a great idea, but the balance wasn’t quite right with this particular combination. Either the Cab needed to be more intense to stand up to the espresso fudge or the fudge needed to be dialed down a notch to better balance the Cabernet (which, it must be said, was nicely balanced on its own, as were all the wines). The idea works, everyone, agreed, but more work is needed to fine-tune the details.

Pairing Power Takeaways

Perhaps the best example of pairing power was the vanilla fudge and Moscato d’Asti. Several people found each of them a bit sweet on their own, but pretty interesting when enjoyed together. Everyone agreed that the Chocolate Moonshine truffles and fudge were delicious and especially creamy, which made them a great partner for the wines we tasted.

We need to explore the topic of wine pairings in more depth. It occurs to me that a tasting like this would be a good way to introduce young people to wine by linking it to something familiar and delicious.

But I think the fact that we tasted in a small group setting made a difference. Water keeps us apart, I like to say, but wine brings us together. And sharing what we think and feel about wine and chocolate was a great way for us to connect with friends and to begin our holiday season.

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Thanks to Chocolate Moonshine for inviting us to take up this challenge!