Dear Judy Ludy:
We have been invited to a wine tasting party! YIKES! We’re supposed to bring a bottle of wine and pair it with some kind of food. I plan to bring a chocolate cake and thought a Cabernet would be nice. Is Sebastiani your favorite? Signed:
Cabernet Crazy
Dear Cabernet:
A wine party; how fun is that! Since I traditionally leave the wine choices in our house to my resident Sommelier, Mr. Ludy, I went to him for your answer. This is what he told me…
The short answer is Sebastiani would be a good choice, especially if it’s still available at Trader Joe’s for around $11 or $12 dollars.
The long answer is…and you better site down for this, as Mr. Ludy can talk….
Traditionally, chocolate is served with dessert style wines, such as Tokays and Muscats from Australia or Sweet Sherry (from Spain if you’re a wine snob). The idea is that the nuttiness of these wines is appropriate for the nutty, earthy qualities of the chocolate. For more herbal or tropical chocolates, try Sauternes from the Bordeaux region). Or you could try a white that is similar to a Sauvignon Blanc or a Hungarian Tokaji.
(See I told you he’s a talker, and there’s still more…)
He continues to say, while all of the above are standard pairings, the thing he’s seen at several upper end wineries in the last 2 years is pairing cabernet with chocolate; which is his personally preference to the dessert wine pairing. Sweet with sweet is a not much for him.
According to Mr. Ludy, the 4 (arguably) best Cabernets for under $20 bucks are….
- Sebastiani (his personal favorite) - The reserve Cabernet is even better. Vendome Liquor has it for around $30, and it’s one of the few remaining family vineyard in Napa.
- Chateau St. Jean
- Markam
- Simi
These last 2 are good, but harder to find.
- McMannis
- Marrietta (sometimes found at Vons).
There, how’s that! He’s most helpful in the wine area, so that’s we call him our own Sommelier!