Port Pairings

When one pairs a red wine with chocolate, they must make sure the wine is as sweet, or sweeter, than the chocolate. If it isn't, the chocolate will ruin the flavor of the wine. That is why port is the usual wine chosen for chocolate pairings and desserts, because of it's high residual sugar content, that is retained during fermentation of the wine. The wine's fermentation process is arrested, or stopped, when the unfermented sugar level is fairly high, by the addition of Brandy or a neutral alcohol. Adding it to the fermenting wine raises the alcohol content of the juice, kills the yeast that are converting the natural sugars to alcohol, and leads to a sweeter and higher alcohol content wine or port - which is a wine based product. Therefore, the port has enough sweetness to "stand up to" the chocolate, and make a great pairing! Monte D. Young 05:27, 6 July 2011 (EST)