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Fortified wine and chocolate? Yes please

Read time 3 Mins

Posted 19 Apr 2023

By
Lulu Morris

Treat yourself to some sugar, sugar.

Fortified wine isn’t daggy, it's just one of the many victims of our grandparents’ weird appetite. Honestly, gramps, does that bottle of “sticky” really belong stewing in the sun? So we’ve decided to reclaim fortified wine from the doily-ed shelves of grandma’s buffet for the younger generation (us). How have we done this, you ask? By pairing it with chocolate. Because nothing says “good time” like sugar. 

But first, a little recap on what the hell fortified wine actually is. As we know from our deep dive into sherry, fortified wine is wine that has spirit added during or after the fermentation process. Typically these include sherry, Madeira, ports, and pineau des Charentes. 

The sweeter types of fortified wines took off during the mid-20th century and cramped the style of the drier varieties of sherry (RIP fino). Over time, these sweet fortified wines became a marker of a drinker’s age and so remained in the depths of gramps’ pantry. 

Until now! So let’s get stuck into these new-age, sweet, top-tier chocolate and fortified wine pairings.

A bottle of Lustau East India Solera wine

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1. Lustau East India Solera with hazelnut chocolate

By now you should all be sherry experts, which is lucky because our first fortified wine is a sherry blend. Blended sherries can be terrible or delightful – the latter of which is the case with this Lustau East India Solera, a blend of oloroso and Pedro Ximenez (PX). Both the oloroso and the PX are aged in their separate solera (solera is a process of adding young wine to older wine for complexity) for 12 years before blending. After this, the blended wine is returned to a 45-cask solera for three more years – a nod to the ageing process used for wines crossing oceans in the 17th century. Its flavour is what you’d expect from a blended sherry – smooth and rich at the front of the palate, with big swathes of prune and burned orange peel to finish. In the glass, it’s a dark mahogany colour, rimmed with a tinge of green amber. So what are we pairing with this blended beauty? Well, we reckon a little hazelnut choccy number is just what the doc ordered. Serve your Lustau East India Solera on the rocks with a slice of orange. Chic as hell.

2. Grant Burge 10-Year-Old Muscat with caramel chocolate

We’ve tossed a muscat into the mix, so get excited. The Grant Burge Muscat is aged for ten years and pours deep amber, with a slight rancio (nutty) hue – also evident when sniffed. On top of this, you’ll smell caramel and, of course, some raisin fruit aromas. To taste, the texture is smooth and silky followed by fat flavours of baked ginger biscuits, dates and a beautiful nuttiness that carries on long after the final sip. We’d suggest serving it by itself (no ice) alongside some gooey, stretchy, chewy caramel chocolate. Because caramel and caramel works, right?

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3. Morris Classic Ruby with orange chocolate

What a great name. Morris. Almost regal. Author bias aside, let’s chat about this delicious fortified wine. As the name suggests, the liquor has a wonderful ruby shade to it, so it looks super pretty in the glass. After crushing and pressing, the wine is fortified with a lower-strength spirit. This is a super youthful fortified wine, so on the nose it’s very floral, with lovely plum fruit aromas. On the palate, you’re getting soft berry flavours that are juicy and fresh. We’re gonna pair it with some orange chocolate to match those brilliant fruit flavours of the wine. Serve with some ice or, if you’re feeling adventurous, a lick of tonic or soda.

4. Morris Cellar Reserve Grand Tawny with rum and raisin chocolate

And we’re back with another Morris fortified wine. Morris has been making wine for around 160 years, so you know they can produce a good drop. The Cellar Reserve Grand Tawny is no exception – only the creme de la creme Tawny is selected, with some as old as 50. This means you get a more intense, stickier wine. In the glass, it's a tawny brown colour (makes sense) with olive green hues. Take a whiff and you get lovely mature fruit, spice and subtle spirit aromas. This is a pretty rich, fruit-driven wine, so when pairing it with a choccy we need to consider its depth and maturity. And what’s more mature than some squares of rum and raisin choccy? The molasses flavours combined with those sticky raisins will pair sublimely with the rich fruit of the Morris Cellar Reserve Grand Tawny. Serve this wine neat in a fancy glass.
Delicious combination of Morris Cellar Reserve Grand Tawny and raisin chocolate

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5. McWilliams White Tawny and Tonic with white chocolate

Australians love a bit of McWilliams. They’ve been a fave of ours since 1877. Not only for their super classic, premium fortifieds, but also for their ability to mix it up every now and then – like with their new White Tawny, specifically designed to pair with tonic. Not only does it come in some pretty flash packaging, but it’s super sippable. It’s light and packed with fruity, summer flavours that are sweet and bright. Tonic and lime are the jumping-off point for this wine, so we foresee this super malleable product being used in a variety of spritzy, aperitif-styled cocktails. So get creative. As for a choccy to pair with this fortified number? We suggest white chocolate to match those light, sweet flavours.

6. McWilliams Ruby Tawny and Tonic with fruit and nut milk chocolate

We’ve added another McWilliams to this list – firstly, because why not? And secondly, it's delicious. This one is just as adventurous, interesting and mixable as their beautiful White Tawny but, and this is important, it has a stunning pinky-ruby colour to it. Which makes sense, as this beautiful fortified is bursting with big berry flavours. Like the White Tawny, this drop comes in some pretty swish packaging and is made to pair with tonic and a slice of lemon (though you can drink it by itself). If you’re feeling adventurous, have a play with the wine in some fruit-forward cocktails. Because of all those delicious, boisterous fruit flavours, we’re gonna go ahead and pair this wine with some fruit and nut milk chocolate. Those berry flavours of the Ruby will complement the lovely fruit in the choccy. It’s a no-brainer.

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Has fortified wine tickled your fancy? Want to dip a toe in the wonderful world of sherry? Have a read through our comprehensive guide to Sherry – you won’t regret it.
Shop related products
Mcwilliam'sWhite Tawny 750mL
White Tawny 750mL
Member Offer
$16 per bottle Non-Member: $19.99
 
Mcwilliam'sRuby Tawny 750ml
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Ruby Tawny 750ml
$14 each
 
MorrisClassic Ruby 500mL
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Classic Ruby 500mL
$26.99 Each
 
MorrisCellar Reserve Grand Tawny
Cellar Reserve Grand Tawny
$79.99 each
 
LustauEast India Solera 500ml
East India Solera 500ml
$33.99
 
image credits: Michael Pham (photography) and Bridget Wald (styling)
Authour image
Lulu MorrisLulu is a writer at Dan Murphy’s who loves Pina Coladas, but hates getting caught in the rain.
Tags
Hit ListDessert WineFood pairingsFortified WineMuscatWinePort & Tawny
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