SRP of $38 for a three pack. Sample received courtesy Brix Chocolate for review purposes.
You may have seen stories lately claiming that chocolate and wine are really not that good of a match. That's ridiculous if you ask me, as I have yet to find any type of chocolate that isn't good with a nice red wine. However, getting just the right match, where the chocolate exactly complements the flavors of the wine can really take the pairing to the next level.
For this reason, I was excited when Brix Chocolate sent over some of their Brix Bites that have been specifically developed to be eaten with wine. They offer four different types of chocolate ranging from milk to three different levels of dark chocolate (54%, 60% and 70% cacao) that they claim are each best paired with specific types of wine:
Over the course of several weeks I sampled each type of chocolate with several different wines, and came away very impressed. I first dived into the Extra Dark Chocolate and found it to be a smooth and luscious match to one of my top rated wines, the Amalaya Malbec Blend. The Dalliance Red was also excellent, with the chocolate complementing all the flavors in the wine and even adding another dimension to them.
I then decided to experiment a little with another of our most highly rated wines, the La Mozza I Perazzi Super Tuscan. I tried both the Extra Dark and Medium Dark and found that there indeed was a significant difference with the Medium Dark blunting the flavors of the wine a bit, while that was not the case with the Extra Dark. The Extra Dark works well with an oaky Cabernet too, as it held up quite nicely to the Louis Martini Napa Valley Cabernet.
With the Goldwater Pinot Noir I tried both the Smooth Dark and the Milk Dark. Both were good, but the Smooth Dark was just a decadent treat matching up perfectly with this excellent Pinot Noir.
Lastly, what I thought would be the most difficult pairing was Riesling, where I sampled all the Finger Lakes Rieslings from last week with both the Smooth Dark and the Milk Chocolate, and suprisingly found both to be a great match.
Buy Brix Bites on Amazon here.
