Wine & Chocolate, although often enjoyed together, can sometimes not taste as good as expected. If you've ever had a glass of dry red with a chunk of dark chocolate, you may have noticed the wine becoming more sour and bitter. That's because the high tannins in the red wine will highlight the bitterness of the dark chocolate (tannins highlight bitterness), making the pairing unappetizing.
But all is not lost, friends! There are plenty of successful chocolate pairings to be savoured. Let us take you through a few options and as a 'sweetener' save 15% should you wish to give any of these wines a try.
The 15% discount will show at Checkout 🛒
But don't delay this code will expire MONDAY 25 MARCH 2024 at midnight.
As a basic rule, its best to choose wines that are a little bit softer and juicier than the chocolate you're pairing it with.
To read all about it - check out our Blog!
4 products
2019 Waterkloof 'Circumstance Merlot'
Regular price £19.59Serious Merlot - think St Emilion with guts... and legs.
Tasting notes
A fine wine with persistence, complexity and great purity - dense black cassis and bramble fruit aromas combined with plums, spice and a creamy oak on the palate. Showing real character and personality, supreme poise and balance, Waterkloof's ability to express their unique terroir improves with each vintage.
Production
Living soils and a natural approach to winemaking means that each of the single-varietal wines in the Circumstance range is truly defined by the circumstances influencing the chosen varietal and vineyard blocks, including soil, aspect, altitude and vintage. The Merlot is from two adjoining, windswept, south-facing (less sun exposure) blocks 240-60m above and a mere 2 miles from The Atlantic. These factors combine to produce low yields, balanced grapes and wines with a true sense of place. Production was a miserly 5 tons per hectare. Hand-picked grapes were destemmed, hand sorted and placed into our open-top wooden fermenters via gravity. Natural fermentation started spontaneously by utilising the wild yeasts present on the fruit. Punch downs (twice a day) were used during fermentation to ensure a soft and slow, colour and tannin extraction. The wine spent 30 days on the skins to help integrate the tannins and stabilise the colour. The skins were separated from the juice through a gentle basket pressing. The wine went through malolactic fermentation in barrel and was then aged in new (15%), second and third fill (85%) French barrels for 18 months. The wine was aged for another year in wooden fermenters to ensure a wine with silky soft tannins. The wine received no fining, which allowed the grape to be purely expressed in the wine. Only sulphur was added and no other additions, such as tartaric acid or enzymes were allowed.
Producer
Founded by Paul Boutinot in 2004, Waterkloof is a family-owned, organic, biodynamic and WWF Biodiversity Champion farm perched high up on the windswept Schapenberg, overlooking False Bay and The Atlantic Ocean. Living soils, naturally low yields and a long growing season help provide talented young Cellarmaster Nadia Barnard with naturally balanced grapes that are imbued with a truly defining sense of origin. Those grapes are then transformed into wine with a minimum of intervention. The resulting wines are fine, inimitable and best enjoyed with food.
Sustainability
As well as being ECOCERT certified as organic, and working biodynamically, Waterkloof goes much further than many in its efforts to be a highly sustainable winery. To learn more please visit their website.
Specifications
| Year | 2019 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Cultivar | 100% Merlot |
| Country | South Africa |
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| Units of Alcohol per Bottle | 10.8 units |
| Type | Red Wine |
| Cellaring Potential | Awaiting info |
| Features | Vegetarian, Vegan, Sustainable, Natural |
| Allergen Information | Contains sulphites |
| Food Matches | Garlic roast lamb, or venison roasted with root vegetables. |
| Origin | Stellenbosch |
| Appellation | WO Stellenbosch |
2017 Tohu Whenua Awa Single Vineyard Pinot Noir
Regular price £42.99 Sale price £29.99 Save 30%Nose
Intense ripe dark fruit aromas, underlined with bright florals and harmonious spicy oak notes.
Palate
Flavours of red and dark fruits balanced with soft, silky tannins. Long, lingering and mouth-filling finish.
Vineyard
Awatere Valley Marlborough, New Zealand. Blocks: Araroa, Moana, Rotokaro, Taumauri & Tohu. Planted 2002. 19.22 ha. Loam soils varying from shallow to deep silt, and fine sand.
Viticulture
A relatively frost-free spring resulted in good early shoot growth. Leaf plucking facilitated bunch exposure and promoted fruit flavour development. Slightly lower than normal brix levels resulted in clean, concentrated flavours.
Winemaking
Hand-harvested grapes gently destemmed then chilled for seven days in open top vessels. Warmed for a fast ferment; the wine was pressed directly into dedicated Pinot Noir French oak barriques for the winter. Malolactic fermentation once the temperatures started to warm again in spring. Rigorous blending and barrel section, with the final blend left to settle a few more months before being bottled without the need for fining or filtration.
Bottled May 2018 – 3276 bottles produced
Awards
- Gold - 2020 IWC
- 91 points James Suckling
Specifications
| Year | 2017 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Cultivar | 100% Pinot Noir |
| Country | New Zealand |
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Alcohol content
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13.5% alc vol
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| Units of alcohol per bottle | 9.8 units |
| Type | Red Wine |
| Cellaring Potential | Until 2024 |
| Allergen Information | Contains Sulphites |
| Food Matches |
Lamb Rack, baba ganoush, tomato & coriander salad. Light enough to pair with a grilled salmon pasta, but it will also compliment rich red meats. |
| Appellation | Marlborough |
2020 Waterkloof 'Circumstance Mourvèdre'
Regular price £16.49Mourvèdre is perfect for Waterkloof, with its head in the sun and feet in the sea, and is the most planted red grape on this biodynamic farm. The outstanding 2020 may be the best vintage yet!
Tasting notes
An elegant rendition of this often unruly varietal. Ripe, dark fruit with graphite notes on the nose with wild herb and lifted red berry aromas. Robust and concentrated with the dense yet fine tannins typical of the variety and with a freshness and lightness of touch, thanks to high natural acidity and moderate alcohol.
Production
Living soils and a natural approach to winemaking means that each of the single-varietal wines in the Circumstance range is truly defined by the circumstances influencing the chosen varietal and vineyard blocks, including soil, aspect, altitude and vintage. The Mourvèdre comes from two windswept, south-facing blocks 270-300m above and a mere 2 miles from The Atlantic. These factors combine to produce low yields, balanced grapes and wines with a true sense of place. Production was just 2 tonnes per hectare in 2020. Mourvèdre is one of the few varietals with enough wind-resistance to plant as bush-vine on Waterkloof. Grapes are hand-harvested and brought to the cellar by horses for hand-sorting. Bunches are sorted and whole-bunch fermentation happens spontaneously with wild yeast in large, open-top wooden fermenters. Manual punch-downs or foot-pressing take place 1-2 times per day and the wine is left on skins for 30 days before going through malolactic fermentation in old 600 litre barrels then ageing for 24 months in the same vessels. No fining, just a light filtration. No additons other than sulphur. Vegan friendly, regeneratively farmed wine. 10 barrels made.
Producer
Founded by Paul Boutinot in 2004, Waterkloof is a family-owned, organic, biodynamic and WWF Biodiversity Champion farm perched high up on the windswept Schapenberg, overlooking False Bay and The Atlantic Ocean. Living soils, naturally low yields and a long growing season help provide talented young Cellarmaster Nadia Barnard with naturally balanced grapes that are imbued with a truly defining sense of origin. Those grapes are then transformed into wine with a minimum of intervention. The resulting wines are fine, inimitable and best enjoyed with food.
Sustainability
As well as being ECOCERT certified as organic, and working biodynamically, Waterkloof goes much further than many in its efforts to be a highly sustainable winery. To learn more please visit their website.
Specifications
| Year | 2020 |
| Bottle Size | 750ml |
| Cultivar | 100% Mourvèdre |
| Country | South Africa |
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| Units of Alcohol per Bottle | 10.1 units |
| Type | Red Wine |
| Cellaring Potential | Awaiting info |
| Features | Vegetarian, Vegan, Sustainable |
| Allergen Information | Contains sulphites |
| Food Matches | It can be paired with a variety of dishes but should show well with wild boar or lamb on the grill. |
| Origin | Stellenbosch |
| Appellation | WO Stellenbosch |
