Let’s say you really love wine.  Like you really love it, like you write about it, dream about, run an Instagram account about, tried to marry it, love it.  So let’s say you also love chocolate. That sweet, rich, deliciously unctuous flavor pairs so well with wines like a late harvest Zinfandel.  But what if you could combine the two into one thing?  A chocolate wine!

Chocolate and wine sounds like it might work right?  Two great things should make each other better by joining, like chocolate and peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly, Sonny and Cher, Simon and Garfunkel, and the list goes on!  So what could be better than chocolate and wine? Well as it turns out for the second time, Chocolate Shop teaches me about why this combination is better left on it’s own.

Let’s start with some foundation assumptions.  When you pair wine with  chocolate, generally the assumption is red.  Unlike white wines, red wines contain tannins, the mouth drying substance that lends itself well to combining with something chocolate (at least milk chocolate) tends to have a lot of, fat.  However, since most milk chocolate is sweet, and most red wine isn’t, the wine ends up washing out and getting bitter.  Similarly, dark chocolate has a lower sweetness, but after you crack 70% cocoa, you tend to run into a second set of tannins in the chocolate.  In both cases they make for volatile combinations of bitterness and sweetness.

With that said, wines like Chocolate Shop has something difficult to conquer to start with.  So can Chocolate Shop make a go of it?

Sight:  A firm purple core with bright pinkish edges

Smell:  Dark cherries and tootsie rolls dominate the nose with just the slightest touches of heat.

Sip:    Very sweet, fairly bright, and weighty as a result of both.   There main flavor is dark chocolate, tootsie rolls, and black cherries.

Savor:  The ending is a bit cloying and tannic, but keeps that tootsie roll finish going.

Chocolate Shop gives exactly what it purports to be, a chocolate wine.  Now, is it the best wine for drinking with chocolate?  Probably not, this is most likely going to make sweet and chocolate mixing with a most likely better tasting chocolate.  While it is certainly sweet enough, but the flavor is somewhat one dimensional, and may not build off one another.  That said, if you want to drink something sweet that tastes like a chocolate tootsie roll, then Chocolate Shop is a clear choice.

Verdict:  Tootsie Roll, Sweet, Black Cherry, Cloying
Rating: 59
Price: $10
Caldwell, Idaho
Available at Wine.Com