Two Portuguese wines – Taylor’s Late-Bottled Vintage Port 2009 and Henriques & Henriques’ 10-Year-Old Malmsey – have been placed among the “best to pair with chocolate” by American newspaper The Wall Street Journal – and just in time for Easter!
Columnist Will Lyons wrote the article while in the “chocolate capital of the world – Brussels” and recommended the Port and Madeira wines for some of the best chocolate-wine pairings.
“Perhaps more than any other wine, a sweet, bold, smooth port lends itself to chocolate,” he writes about Taylor’s LBV port.
“But you don’t have to pull out your best. Taylor’s LBV has a lot of fruit—morello cherry, blackberry and plums—and marries well with the freshness of dark chocolate,” he added.
Lyons also speaks highly of the sweet Madeira wine Henriques & Henriques’ 10-year-old Malmsey, which can be served with “a few chunks of dark chocolate”.
“It has an enlivening acidity, which leaves a feeling of having chewed on a sprig of peppermint – a clean sensation not unlike what you get from a piece of excellent quality dark chocolate,” the columnist writes.
France’s Mas Amiel Maury also ranks among Lyons’ three recommendations, considering it to be a “classic match with chocolate” as it is made from “Grenache noir and is deep purple with a sweet, jammy, treacle finish”.
