Chocolate covered strawberries are a perfect way to celebrate Valentine’s Day or a romantic date night. They’re elegant, decadent, and delicious. One way to elevate this dish is with the right bottle of wine.
Read on to discover our favorite, tested-and-approved wine pairing with chocolate covered strawberries, plus an easy recipe you can pull together in minutes.
About Wine Pairing with Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Chocolate covered strawberries are filled with contrast. In one bite, you have many flavors, from fresh, tart strawberry to sweet, faintly bitter chocolate. There are also opposing textures — crunchy and juicy, versus smooth and rich. The wine you pick depends on which of these elements you are trying to accentuate. Let your palate be the guide!
1. Play Up Fresh Fruit with Dry Sparkling Wines
Brut Champagne has the acidity to match strawberries’ lightly tart nature. Even though it has little residual sugar, its carbonation compensates by cleansing the palate of sugary chocolate.
Champagne is a great option if you’re not into sweet wines. If you’re on a budget, a Cava made in the traditional method is also excellent.
2. Accentuate Chocolate With Sweet Wines
To amp up the sweet flavors of chocolate, pick a wine with residual sugar. The shell of chocolate on the strawberries is relatively thin, so you don’t need dessert wine-levels of sugar. A light white wine such as Moscato, off-dry Riesling (Spätlese), or off-dry Chenin Blanc has enough sugar to match.
The Wine Pairings, Ranked
At The Wine Daily, I never make wine pairing recommendations without testing them myself. For this guide, I tried multiple wines recommended by authorities to pair well with chocolate covered strawberries. However, there were definitely some I liked better than others. Here are the results.
Port Wine with Chocolate Covered Strawberries: 5/10
While port is great with pure chocolate, it tasted too intensely sweet against the tart, fresh strawberry. And with a 19.5% alcohol level, Port also packs a punch of heat on the back of the palate and throat that doesn’t match the lightness of this dessert. With high sugar and alcohol, Port was too concentrated for strawberries coated in chocolate.
One caveat: I made my chocolate covered strawberries in February for Valentine’s Day, which is not the season for strawberries. It is very possible this pairing may work better in the summer, when strawberries are sweeter.
Brachetto d’Acqui:
…with Dark Chocolate Covered Strawberries: 6/10
Brachetto d’Acqui has a musky, earthy sweetness, along with rose petal and floral undertones. Overall, this profile didn’t quite match the rich dark chocolate.
…with White Chocolate Covered Strawerries: 9/10
While Brachetto d’Acqui does not pair well with dark chocolate covered strawberries, it is phenomenal with white chocolate covered strawberries. Brachetto’s rasberry and wild cherry flavor adds a new dimension of red fruit flavor to the gentle, creamy white chocolate.
Dry (Brut) Champagne with Chocolate Covered Strawberries: 9/10
While I generally prefer sweeter wines with sweet desserts, Brut Champagne worked surprisingly well with chocolate and strawberries. While Champagne lacked sweetness, its palate-cleansing bubbles and crisp acidity more than made up for it. Champagne is a great choice if you do not like sweet wines. If you are on a budget, Cava is an excellent alternative.
Moscato d’Asti with Chocolate Covered Strawberries: 10/10
Flavor for flavor, this was a perfect match. The lightly honeyed stone fruit and floral aromatics of Moscato were harmonious with the the fresh fruit. Moscato also has enough residual sugar to match chocolate, but not be cloying. Finally, its delicate effervescence is cleansing against the overall sweetness of this dish. Off-dry Riesling is also a great alternative, but it has little to no effervescence, so you will miss some of the texture on the palate.
Other Wines I Tried
I also tried a number of dry wines with chocolate covered strawberries. These included Riesling Kabinett, a fruit-forward California Pinot Noir, and Amarone, which is made from raisinated grapes and has plenty of dark fruit on the palate. While some of this might just come down to personal preference, all of these wines tasted tart alongside sweet, chocolate covered strawberries. A touch of residual sugar (or bubbles) is needed to match this dessert.
The Recipe
Don’t let their beautiful appearance intimidate you – chocolate covered strawberries are shockingly easy to make. This recipe has just three ingredients (although you can make endless variations) and can come together in minutes.
The Best Chocolate for Chocolate Covered Strawberries
After making many chocolate covered strawberries, I found that the melt quality and smoothness of Valrhona chocolate, both white and dark, was unparalleled. It costs a bit more, but is worth it for the rich flavor. You can easily find it at Whole Foods or on Amazon.com.
Stick with fresh chocolate purchased within the last few months. Something seems to change in the fat properties of older chocolate that prevents it from melting properly. Fresh chocolate should show signs of melting within a minute of being in a double boiler. If you are not able to achieve a smooth, liquidy consistency within a few minutes of heating, the chocolate is probably stale and should be tossed.
Easy Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Wine Pairing
Ingredients
- 8 oz semisweet chocolate, in chips or small pieces
- 2 oz white chocolate
- 12 large strawberries
- 12 skewers
Instructions
- Ensure strawberries are thoroughly dry, or pat dry with a towel.
- Skewer strawberries lengthwise through the top (see photo) without piercing the bottom.
- If you don’t have a double boiler – Fill a pot with ¾” water. Add a small rack to the bottom. Place a medium-sized heatproof bowl atop the rack. Bring water to a gentle simmer. Add chocolate chips, stirring until evenly melted. Remove from heat.
- Dip strawberries into chocolate, turning to coat evenly.
- Place skewers, strawberry side up, into a mason jar to dry. You can also lay the skewer sideways on a piece of parchment, but one side of the chocolate covered strawberry will be flat.
- While strawberries are drying (30 - 60 min), melt the white chocolate following the same process as the dark chocolate.
- Using a small spoon or fork, drizzle the white chocolate over the dark chocolate. Let it solidify for another 10 minutes. If not serving immediately, you can store this in the fridge for 1-2 days.
- Enjoy with Moscato d'Asti or Champagne!
Looking for more ways to pair wine and chocolate? Check out our quick guide to wine and chocolate pairings here.
