The Perfect Wine and Chocolate Pairing?

Finito Rosso and Double Chocolate Cake

The other day Jane decided to make a Double Chocolate Cake for us which is a chocolate cake with a chocolate and sour cream ganache icing. I had a look in my wine cupboard for a suitable pairing and came across a strange bottle of wine that we had not tasted before and whose route to my wine cupboard is unknown; I think it must have been a present as I can’t find it on sale at any of my usual wine sources. Many thanks to the kind soul who bought this for us us and introduced us to this lovely wine.

The wine was a Sirromet Seven Scenes 2003 Finito Rosso from Queensland in Australia. The grape varietal is Chambourcin and the wine has been fortified in the Portuguese style to 19.5% abv. It thus resembles a light Port with great freshness and with a nice balance between sweetness and acidity. The bottle says that the recommended food pairing is Pheasant Paté with rye bread and olives but trust me when I say that the best pairing is chocolate cake. I even think it should be forbidden to sell this wine to anyone who isn’t as certified chocoholic!

It is so difficult to find wines that are a true match for chocolate but I note in Wikipedia that it states that the rare chambourcin grape is known to be a good match. Fortified wines are also often good matches to chocolate. Thus fortify the chambourcin grape and you have the perfect match!

Chocoholics should look out for this wine. Let us hope that some of this becomes more available in the UK soon as I couldn’t find a source on the web. If anyone knows where we can get some, please leave a comment on this blog.