Pairing Wine with Desserts

When a food interacts with your taste buds, it activates certain taste receptors based on its flavor. When a beverage is introduced afterward, it might struggle to impress the already activated taste buds. Conversely, the flavors of the taste buds that weren’t activated before will become more prominent.

For example, if you taste a sweet wine before and after having a sweet dessert, the sweetness of the wine will seem less noticeable after your taste buds have already been activated by the dessert. Instead, the other flavors in the wine will stand out more!

On the other hand, if you choose a dry wine with a dessert, it might seem unbalanced because your taste buds expect a sweetness that is absent.

While this concept is straightforward, actual pairings can be complex due to the variety of factors involved.

What Wine with Chocolate Cake?

The key to pairing wine with a chocolate dessert is to consider its taste profile, particularly the bitterness of the chocolate and the level of sweetness depending on the recipe.

The bitterness of chocolate pairs well with red wines, especially those made from Merlot or Grenache. Opt for wines from the right bank of the Garonne (Côtes de Blaye, Fronsac, or Libournais) or southern Rhône wines (Vacqueyras, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Cornas, Gigondas).

What White Wine with a Dessert?

For desserts, the flavors are usually fruity and sometimes sweet. Thus, white wines are generally the best choice, though light, fruity red wines can also work in some cases.

Apply the same logic here: the sweeter the dessert, the sweeter the wine should be. For less sweet desserts, choose aromatic and fruity white wines such as Gewürztraminer, Muscat, Pinot Gris, or Riesling. These wines enhance the dessert's flavors without overpowering them. A wine that's too sweet may overshadow the fruitiness of the dessert.

For sweeter desserts, look to Sauternes, Monbazillac, Côtes-de-montravel or Côteaux du Layon. A sweet dessert will diminish the perceived sweetness of these wines, allowing their other flavors to shine.

What Champagne with a Dessert?

As with other pairings, sweetness is key! Champagne is completed with a dosage liqueur before bottling, which adds a small amount of sugar. Depending on its sweetness, Champagne can be categorized as follows:

• Extra Brut: 0 to 6 grams of sugar per liter
• Brut: Less than 15 grams of sugar per liter
• Extra Dry: 12 to 22 grams of sugar per liter
• Sec: 17 to 35 grams of sugar per liter
• Demi-Sec: 33 to 50 grams of sugar per liter
• Doux: 50 to 100 grams of sugar per liter

For a lightly sweet dessert, like one based on fruit, opt for the classic brut Champagne. Often used as an aperitif, Champagne is sometimes underestimated at the end of a meal. For a refined pairing, a Blanc de Blancs is ideal.

As the dessert’s sweetness increases, the Champagne should become sweeter as well. The best balance is often found with demi-sec Champagne.

While much attention is given to pairing wines with appetizers, main courses, and cheeses, matching wines with desserts is equally important to elevate the meal from start to finish, delighting your palate and your guests.

In the end, personal preference is key. The interactions between food and wine on your taste buds are consistent, but your tastes are not. If you don’t like sweet wines or liquor wines, try an aromatic wine with a sweet dessert. Conversely, if you enjoy sweet flavors, feel free to serve a naturally sweet wine with a less sweet dessert !