Instructions for Your Wine Pairing Kit

AKA

How to do this:

Gif of 3 people drinking out of giant wine glasses.

With this:

Spongebob eating chocolate

Included in the kit:

  • Four 70% single origin dark chocolate bars from different cacao regions

  • Four bottles of wine from different growing regions

  • Four pairing cards

  • One flavor wheel

What you’ll need:

  • A wine glass for each person

  • A glass of water for each person for palate cleansing

  • Scrap paper and pens for any notes and scoring

Your pairings:

Listed in order of how they should be tasted.

Pair 1:

Chocolate: Costa Rica 70%
Wine: 2019 Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley

Pair 2:

Chocolate: Dominican Republic 70%
Wine: 2020 Domaine La Tour Vielle Banyuls

Pair 3:
Chocolate: Sierra Leone 70%
Wine: 2018 Klinker Brick Zinfandel

Pair 4:

Chocolate: Ecuador 70%
Wine: 2020 Cloudline Pinot Noir

Step by step tasting guide:

  1. Grab the card for Pair 1, pour the wine and dole out the chocolate!

    For each pairing, we suggest trying the wine first, cleansing your palate, and then trying the chocolate. Tasting each on their own before blending them together will help you identify the individual flavor profiles of the chocolate and wine.

  2. First, try the wine. Make sure to have your flavor wheel on hand! Take a sip of wine from your glass while letting a little air in. Hold the wine in your mouth and swish it around. Swallow and exhale through your nose. What aromas do you detect? Note the acidity, sweetness, and tannins. Do you taste the tasting notes listed on the card? Use the flavor wheel to identify any different flavors you may experience.

  3. After trying the wine on its own and taking a few notes about the flavor, cleanse your palette with a few sips of water.

  4. When your palate is refreshed, taste the chocolate on its own. Take a small bite of the chocolate, chew it briefly, then let it melt in your mouth. As the chocolate melts, exhale out through your nose and pay close attention to the aromas that emerge. Once again, see if you experience the tasting notes listed on the card and use the flavor wheel to identify any other flavors. Jot down what sticks out the most.

    Now for the fun part – letting the individual flavor profiles meet in your mouth.

  5. To try the chocolate and wine together, first take a bite of the chocolate, briefly chew and as it melts take a sip of the wine. Let the flavors meld in your mouth before swallowing. Try to notice any major differences in flavor when these two things come together.

  6. Ask yourself: How has the chocolate flavor changed after drinking the wine? Does it make certain flavors in the chocolate more or less pronounced? (e.g. fruitier, less earthy) Does the texture of the chocolate add anything to the texture of the wine and vice versa? (e.g. creamier, more velvety, brighter). As you think through these questions, take a look at the flavor wheel to identify different flavors that have developed as the taste lingers in your mouth.

  7. After taking some notes, score the pairing on a scale of 1 - 5. 1 being the lowest and 5 being the best pairing in the world. There are no wrong answers, everyone’s palate is different!

  8. Repeat the process with the remaining 3 pairings, cleansing the palate in between each pairing.

  9. Once you’ve made it through all 4, tally up the scores at the end and determine the winning pairing!