Learn About the Art of Pairing Shiraz and Chocolate This Australia Day!

Today marks the official national day of Australia and what better way to celebrate than sipping on Australian wine while enjoying a unique pairing? Due to their versatility, Wakefield’s Estate Shiraz and Jaraman Shiraz are both excellent options when it comes to pairing, and since we are celebrating today, we aren’t just talking about your average red wine and charcuterie board. Chef Guy Turland is an acclaimed Australian chef and his ‘family-inspired’ Self-Saucing Chocolate Pudding with Macerated Berries recipe tastes amazing with a glass of Australian Shiraz. 

Now you may be thinking, I thought red wine and chocolate don’t go well together! Well, we are here to debunk that assumption. The next time you are pairing red wine with chocolate, try considering these three tricks. 

1. Focus on matching the intensities of the wine and the chocolate. In other words, a full-bodied wine goes well with richer chocolates and lighter chocolates should be consumed with lighter wines.
2. There’s also the conversation of sweetness. Since cocoa can be bitter, try drinking a more fruit-forward wine to balance the flavours.
3. The texture is also very important because you don’t want to pair a dark, bittersweet chocolate with a high tannin wine. Instead, try sipping on a soft and juicer wine so that the palate is not too intense or dry.

To be more specific about the wines themselves, the Wakefield Estate Shiraz is a well-balanced medium to full-bodied wine with notes of plum, blackberry, mocha coffee and subtle spice. On the other hand, the 2019 Wakefield Jaraman Shiraz is a blend of 60% Clare Valley and 40% McLaren Vale fruits. This full-bodied wine has smooth flavours of dark berries, ripe cherries and plums paired with notes of roasted coffee beans and spice. 

For those of you who are not familiar with Wakefield Wines, Wakefield is a family-owned and Australian based brand that purchased 178 hectares of land in the Clare Valley in 1969. Wakefield is known for its sustainable efforts especially when it comes to preserving ocean wildlife. The seahorse is a symbol of the winery that is displayed on every bottle in order to represent their conservation and awareness efforts to help protect this indicator species. 

Wakefield’s Estate Shiraz and Jaraman Shiraz are both available at the LCBO, so give them a try today!