Ferrero Rocher & Christmas

Sometimes you get an invitation that you cannot refuse....

and when the lovely people at Ferrero Rocher recently asked me if I would like to take part in a chocolate & wine tasting, that was one such invitation!

Five fabulous boxes of different Ferrero Rocher chocolates arrived, accompanied by three different alcoholic drinks - plus some fantastically thorough notes & recommendations from the London Wine Academy.

Add four girlfriends and you have a very fun evening :)

We tasted :

*Classic Ferrero Rocher : milk chocolate, creamy filling, crispy wafer + a whole hazelnut in the centre

*Raffaello by Ferrero : light coconut wafer, creamy interior, toasted almond centre

*Ferrero Rond Noir : dark chocolate layers of wafer + chocolate cream + a whole almond in the centre 

The drinks recommended by the London Wine Academy were:

*A sweet dessert wine, Croix Milhas Rivesaltes Ambre (Languedoc-Rousillon, France)

*Sparkling wine, Martini Asti NV (Piedmont, Italy)

*After dinner treat, Dows Finest Reserve Port (Duero, Portugal)

We had a wonderful time trying out different drinks with the various chocolates.... 

we did however come to the conclusion that those recommended by the experts were, not surprisingly, the best choices.

Some interesting facts about "the art of food & wine matching"....

* wine should ideally be as sweet as the food for a good match ie, a sweet or demi-sec champagne goes well with a dessert

* weight (meaning strength of flavour) is crucial to successful food & wine pairing ie, your food and wine should be of similar weight - light sushi needs a light wine, white chocolate a light, creamy wine, dark chocolate needs a red wine

*chocolate is a difficult food to match because it clings to your taste-buds.

Wines that match well with chocolate are often fortified, as the extra power helps to cut through the chocolate. Sweet sparkling wines are also a great match as the bubbles help refresh your taste-buds

*pair chocolate & wine according to the darkness of the chocolate - the darker the chocolate, the darker the wine should be. Dark chocolate will display more tannin on the palate and so needs to be matched with a wine with higher tannins, such as port. The sweetness in the port balances the bitter  tannins perfectly.

    

    

To find out more about Ferrero Rocher chocolates, see here ....

they have a great range available for Christmas and I would happily recommend the wines I have mentioned above.

Thank you so much to Ferrero Rocher for providing all of the above.