If you want to indulge yourself this Easter weekend, chocolate works brilliantly with both wine and whisky. The chocolate flavours can mix perfectly with the drier, predominate flavours of both beverages.
White Chocolate Egg: for a wine match, you want to play it fun and easy. My first stop is the most fun and easy wine of all time: Michele Chiarlo ‘Nivole’ Moscato d’Alba 2018 (winebuyers.com, £9.11, 37.5cl). This semi-sweet, semi-fizzy wine from Piedmont is bursting with apricot, peach, elderflower and also grape. And for a dram, I’d go straight for the Isle of Arran Bodega Sherry Cask (£53.95, Master of Malts).
Milk Chocolate Egg: the soft, yet easy nature of this chocolate needs a softer style of red. A gentle Merlot or a New World Pinot Noir would work perfectly. Avoid Cabernet Sauvignon as the dry tannins of the wine will not improve your enjoyment of the egg. Instead, try the Las Condes Merlot 2018 (www.inveraritymorton.com, £6.50). From Central Valley in Chile this soft, smooth wine has red fruit flavours and a ripe plum finish. To go against the sweetness, I’d pick a more coastal whisky. The Oban 14 year old would be almost perfect, but my top choice would be the Old Pulteney 12 year old (Royal Mile Whiskies, £29.95). It’s full of fruit, orange and butterscotch notes and has a lovely sea salt air finish.
Dark Chocolate Egg: this match is all about dealing with the dark, bitter cocoa notes. The darker the chocolate, the richer the match. Some would jump straight for port, but I prefer the jammy/zingy/spicy notes that can come with a well put together Zinfandel or Malbec. The Goyenechea Malbec 2018
(www.inveraritymorton.com, £7.15) is made high up in the hills in Mendoza, Argentina. It’s chock full of dried fruits and light spices that warm the palate and it comes with a seriously concentrated blackberry finish. For a whisky, I have to go full on Islay – the Ardbeg Uigeadail (Royal Mile Whiskies, £60.95) with its dark, earthy, rich peat notes would be ideal. I love the sheer length and complexity on the palate, and the finish is sublime. This dram has everything, watch out though, as it is cask strength – 54.2%.
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