We’ve written about wine and food pairings from time to time, but not like this. October is upon us and with Halloween on the horizon, it’s time to talk Halloween candy and wine pairings. Yup.
If you want to indulge in Halloween candy this season, don’t let your adulthood hold you back. Instead, dress up your candy cravings with some diverse wines and liqueurs per food and wine writer, Dave Desimone’s suggested pairings. But be sure to keep the kids away from your stash!
So, what are you craving?
Dark Chocolate?
Grab a tawny port wine. These deep barrel-aged beauties have caramel and chocolate notes of their own. Fresh and sweet, you can pair a port with dark or milk chocolate, but why not seize the opportunity to get a little more bittersweet. Desimone recommends Cockburn’s 10-Year Tawny Porto from Portugal.
Salted Caramel?
Try a Madeira. Whether you go for a sweet or dry Madeira wine, it is sure to pop on your palate alongside a salted sweet. Desimone recommends Blandy’s 2014 10-year Malmsey Madeira, also from Portugal, as it offers some toffee, saline notes of it’s own.
Milk Chocolate?
You can go back to your port wine, or dip into some Amaro. Amaro is an Italian herbal liqueur and not a wine, but it pairs perfectly with a Toblerone and we just couldn’t leave it off of the list.
Chocolate and nuts?
Whether you’ve got your eye on a Clark, Butterfinger or 5th Avenue Bar, we’re going to steer you towards a simple, crisp white. A dry Riesling, fermented in stainless steel wine barrels may be particularly suited to complement the creamy milk chocolate and crunchy peanut nougat of these Halloween staples.
We freely pair wine and chocolate together for anniversaries and Valentine’s Day, so why not elevate your Halloween candy. Afterall, the grown-ups should get to have some fun while they’re waiting for the door to chime with trick-or-treaters.