Chocolate and Raspberry Wine

Chocolate and berries show up pretty much everywhere, since everybody knows they are good together, so nothing I am about to say is terribly original. That doesn't mean that through careful work and selection you couldn't create a memorable experience for yourself.

I came across a Raspberry wine from Pasek Cellers from Washington State. Find out more about them at http://www.pasekcellars.com/.
The wine is tart and somewhat sweet so it paired well with both cheese and chocolate. They have a dessert variety as well which would be more suited to very sweet desserts. The wine is a deep red color with a fantastic raspberry aroma. The flavor is spot on with enough tart and sweet in balance with each other. The finish is not very long, but long enough to please. Having made berry wines in the past I know how much product goes into a batch. I can only imagine the quantity of berries required for this wine.

I paired the wine with a Patric Chocolate from the Sambirano Valley in Madagascar, a 67% cacao small batch offering. The chocolate itself has nice fruit flavors including dark fruits and red berries. The bit of chocolate and sip of wine were excellent together. The fruit in each found and connected with the other. The chocolate has the familiar bitterness of a darker style but doesn't come off as harsh.

Just for fun I found a chewy brownie recipe from Laura at the Cooking Photographer blog that would be worth a try with the wine. The recipe even mentions backing off on the sugar which would be beneficial with a wine that is not super sweet.

http://www.thecookingphotographer.com/2010/03/julies-chewy-cocoa-brownies.html

Cheers!

--Jason