How To Build The Ultimate Chocolate And Wine Basket For Valentine's Day

It's hard to go wrong with wine or chocolate as a romantic Valentine's Day gift, and mixing the two together in one basket is a true treat. Wine and chocolate both present a huge range of choices to find the perfect flavors for your partner and loved one. And combining them provides wonderful opportunities for designing wine and chocolate pairings that will complement each other, delighting and surprising your special someone.

But while both chocolate and wine make great gifts, it takes some finesse to build a basket that brings out the best flavors of each. That's why Tasting Table reached out to an expert, Francis Ford Coppola Winery senior winemaker Andrea Card, to ask for her opinion on putting together the ultimate wine and chocolate basket this Valentine's Day. She also gave us some expert pairings, straight from the winery, for an effortless gift guide.

To start off, we asked Card just how many different styles of wine and chocolate are best for a gift. She told us, "It depends on how much you like the person it's for! Just kidding — but in all seriousness, there is no right number here." According to Card, the only thing to worry about is your personal intentions with a gift, "so if you have some knowledge and want to impress, go all in with a big basket," but she notes that small gifts work just as well and "a great bottle of wine paired with a chocolate bar is perfect." So, what really matters is knowing the best chocolate for whoever you're gifting it to.

While dark chocolate has plenty of fans, milk chocolate is the crowd pleaser, and the first stop for a Valentine's Day basket. Andrea Card explained that "milk chocolate has a sweet, creamy profile, making it a perfect match for fruit-forward wines with soft, round tannins." Tannins play a crucial role in red wines. They are the source of the bitterness and dry feeling you experience when sipping most reds, which they get from staying in contact with the grape skins and seeds — something that doesn't happen with white wines.

She told us that's important with milk chocolate because "the tannins enhance the chocolate's smooth texture, creating a well-balanced pairing." Which wines fall under that fruity, soft tannin category? They are mostly red wines, and Card says, "milk chocolate, with its velvety texture and sweetness, will work really well with a Merlot's fruit forward qualities." Softer tannins mean less intense, although still perceptible bitterness, so this isn't a place for most intensely tannic reds like Cabernet Sauvignon. 

If you want to branch out from Merlot, Pinot Noir is a famously fruity wine with less bold tannins, as is Zinfandel, which is also grown in Italy under the name Primitivo. If you want a lighter red that has a brighter more acidic quality while still being fruity, Spanish Grenache is a great choice. And while white wines won't have those tannins, if your loved one prefers them, a dry Riesling will have nice fruit notes while also being acidic enough to balance out milk chocolate's richness.

Milk chocolate may call for a lighter wine to not overpower it, but you shouldn't have any reservations when finding the best wines to pair with dark chocolate. Andrea Card says, "when it comes to dark chocolate, you'll want a wine that can stand up to its intense cocoa flavor and slight bitterness." For her this means "wines with bold tannins, rich fruit notes, and hints of spice create a beautiful harmony, complementing the chocolate's deep, complex character." 

With milk chocolate, the added sugar and creaminess may make it pleasantly sweet, but dark chocolate is one of the few foods that can match wine for the sheer variety and breadth of tasting notes, which can be earthy, spicy, floral, and more depending on the bar. So, you want a wine that lets those characters shine. For a bold red wine this Valentine's Day that will match dark chocolate's intensity, Card explained, "the intense cocoa notes and bitterness are balanced out by the tannins and dark fruit notes of a Cabernet Sauvignon." 

But like lighter reds, the world of bold red wines is wide and complex and full of interesting options. One wine that works for milk chocolate that will also work for dark is Zinfandel, which isn't quite as tannic as Cab, but is high in alcohol and bursting with intense flavors that can match those of dark chocolate. If you want a more spicy, earthy option to pair with dark chocolate, Syrah is another powerful choice.

While divisive, white chocolate is legally considered chocolate – though it still has haters and lovers in equal measure. But it's also an interesting pairing for a Valentine's Day basket. The richness of white chocolate entirely dispenses with the bitterness and earthy flavors at the core of most chocolate. Andrea Card explained that, "white chocolate has delicate notes of honey and vanilla, so it's important to choose a wine that enhances these flavors rather than overpowering them." 

And while both milk and dark chocolate usually work best with red wine, when you are dealing with delicate flavors, white chocolate will be a great choice for the white wine lover in your life. Card's recommendation for white chocolate is "a Viognier, with its bright acidity and touch of sweetness, is an excellent (and more unique) choice — it complements the chocolate's creamy texture while bringing out its nuanced sweetness." 

She even has a specific option in mind, telling us, "our Russian River Valley Francis Coppola Reserve Viognier is a great pairing example." White chocolate is also another spot where dry Riesling is a good option, as it usually has a similar profile to Viognier. Of course, if you are talking about crisp, acidic white wines, you can't ignore Sauvignon Blanc, which is always a winner with rich food. And the creaminess of white chocolate is also a great place to start pairing with different sparkling wines, and Italian Moscato d'Asti will bring the right mild sweetness.

Not all chocolate gifts are going to be bars — in fact, most will probably be widely available boxed chocolates with a variety of flavors. This presents a unique challenge, and Andrea Card told us "for an assorted box of chocolates, you'll want a go-to wine that pairs well across the board," noting that "Merlot is your best bet — it's smooth, fruit-forward, and balanced, making it a perfect match for a variety of chocolate flavors without overpowering any single one." Like with milk chocolate, this is also a spot where Pinot Noir can stand in for Merlot.

Fillings like caramel and nuts also offer exciting possibilities. Card told us that "Chardonnay and caramel make for a mouthwatering pairing, especially when it's a buttery, oaked Chardonnay." As she explains, "The rich, creamy texture and notes of vanilla, butter, and toasted spice in an oaked Chardonnay perfectly complement the sweet, buttery depth of caramel," and that the Coppola Diamond Collection Chardonnay will give you just that experience. 

If you prefer a red wine, she recommends, "something jammy and fruity with a little sweetness and/or spice will work well, like a Zinfandel." Nuts also provide another opportunity to break out the bubbles, and Card says, "Pairing Prosecco and a nut-based confection works well because of the contrast between Prosecco's crisp effervescence and the richness from nuts, whether it's a hazelnut chocolate or some type of nut butter." And yes, that includes the peanut buttery Valentine's Day favorite: Reese's.

Of course, being Francis Ford Coppola Winery's senior winemaker, Andrea Card has plenty of ideas for pairing chocolate with bottles from its own personal collection. For lovers of red wine, Card had two recommendations. The first is a good dark chocolate and the Coppola Diamond Collection Claret. Card says of the pairing, "Dark chocolate offers a decadent match to Diamond Collection's Claret: The wine's bold tannins round out the chocolate's slightly bitter notes, while its intense cherry flavors harmonize beautifully with dark chocolate's intense cocoa notes — a classic, romantic pairing for V-Day." 

Like something more fruity? A berry-infused chocolate and the Diamond Collection Pinot Noir are ready-made for each other, with Card noting, "The bright red fruit notes and smooth, earthy undertones of Pinot Noir perfectly enhances milk chocolate's sweet, creamy texture while balancing out the infusion of juicy berry flavors for an indulgent V-Day treat." 

If someone likes nuts, an Italian classic like hazelnut chocolate is perfect with another Italian favorite: Diamond Collection Prosecco. As Card explains, "these hazelnut-forward chocolates lend a rich, nutty flavor that offer a delightful contrast to the crisp effervescence of Prosecco, adding a subtle hint of earthiness in between sips of bubbles." 

And finally, Card says to give the Chardonnay lover in your life caramel-filled chocolate, as "Diamond Chardonnay's subtle vanilla and toasty crème brûlée flavors beautifully balance the salty, creamy notes of caramel-filled chocolate for a silky, luxurious bite."