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Thanks for joining us, Michael! Could you explain to us some of the basic rules of chocolate and wine pairing?

Firstly, if you’re going to do this then you have to use top quality chocolate and wines – otherwise it just doesn’t work. I recommend Lindt’s Excellence and Lindor range. Next, choose chocolate with similar characteristics to the wine, without being over the top. For example, take the Excellence Intense Blueberry — it will complement wines with blackberry flavours like Shiraz, Durif and Chambourcin. Matching chocolate with wine is all about getting the balance right.

What type of wines pair with dark chocolate, versus wines that complement white?

Always remember that white chocolate isn’t really chocolate, it’s cocoa butter, milk powder and sugar. That’s not a bad thing, but the sweetness is always going to be the biggest issue here. So why not match it with the sweetness of the wine as well? The Grant Burge Moscato Frizzante 2010 is a spritzy wine that will give you the perfect balance you’re looking for. Alternatively, try an oaked Chardonnay. As for dark chocolate, it all depends on the cocoa levels. The Lindt Intense range encompasses everything from 47% cocoa to 99% —but remember, as the percentage rises, so does the bitterness, intensity and mouthfeel, so the wines need to not only compete, but also shine through. The classic combination is 70%, matched with Leconfield Cabernet Sauvignon 2009 Delicious!

What is it in chocolate that draws out the characters of the wine?

It’s all about support, getting the complementary flavours to work together and about not losing the original flavours. It’s a delicate balancing act. As you know, if the wines are not Bronze medal standard then we don’t sell them, which makes chocolate pairings a great deal easier! Start here and you’re off to a flying start.

Can you give us a hypothetical pairing? What are we looking for and what should we expect?

Lindt is about to release a new ‘Excellence’ chocolate this month called ‘Strawberry Intense.’ Match it with the Yering Station Mr Frog Pinot Noir 2010! Expect the fruit flavours of the Pinot to come right to the front of the palate and the freeze-dried strawberries will be super-intense due to the acidity of the wine. The 47% cocoa in the chocolate helps smooth the tannins of the Pinot, and the finish is long and rich without bite or sweetness. It doesn’t get any better!

You have been doing Wine and Chocolate tastings for a while now — what are people’s common reactions? Do they enjoy them? Are they surprised?

I’ve been trialling and mixing wine with chocolate for the past three years. Recently, with the introduction of the Lindt Excellence ‘Touch of Sea Salt’, I’ve really hit a winner. Match this one with the Fermoy Estate Nebbiolo 2007 and the taste is brilliant. There are many customers who have never tried sea salt chocolate at all, let alone wine and chocolate pairings. For those who are little wary of mixing “dairy” with “alcohol”, I just slip them some of the Lindor White Block and a glass of sparkling Moscato. After this, they’re in heaven.

Looking for more wines to pair with that perfect piece of chocolate? Visit our website to view our exclusive range. Feel free to follow Michael on Twitter or connect with him on Linkedin today.

The golden rule to cooking with wine is to never cook with what you wouldn’t drink. Bad wine does not magically taste better when you fry it up in your mushroom risotto, it simply makes your risotto taste bad. Just as there are joys to pairing your wine with your finished meal, there are joys to be found in pairing wine over the hotplate. Wine works as a liquefying element and is a suitable substitute for water in cooking, leaving behind the rich flavours of the fermented grapes. The alcohol content will evaporate, leaving you with a wonderful cooked-down wine base. If you’re adding wine later in the cooking process, you’ll get a richer sauce with less alcohol loss.

Here are some helpful tips:

• Adding wines to marinades will tenderise red meat;
• The weight, flavour and sweetness of a wine has to be considered when de-glazing – anything that isn’t going to cook for too long will need to be more seriously selected;
• You’ll get your best results when cooking with wine over a long period;
• Avoid using marketed ‘cooking wines’;
• Definitely use those left-over bottles, but try to use them soon after opening – when you re-cap your bottle you’re trapping air inside, which will will reduce the quality of the wine;
• What do you do if your recipe doesn’t provide you with a specific grape variety and just recommends red or white wine? When in doubt, use medium-dry to dry wine. For example, when cooking with reds, use Pinot Noir and when cooking with non-specific whites, use Pinot Grigio.

Cooking is an adventure, but the rewards are worth it. And for those who struggle in the kitchen, fear not — wine experts unanimously agree that the whole process is a lot easier with a glass in-hand. Enjoy!

Visit our website to view our extensive range of wines to find the perfect variety to match with your next meal.

West Australia’s Great Southern region covers a significant landmass – 200km by 100km, which is huge by Australian standards. It contains the sub-regions of Albany, Denmark, Frankland River, Mount Barker and Porongurup, and accounts for 37% of all wine grapes produced in WA. The climatic conditions are generally maritime, with continental characteristics showing the further inland you move. It is also moderately continental and showcases an ever-changing topography. All of these factors align to create stunning wines such as the Howard Park Flint Rock Chardonnay 2010, which has a terrifically textured and restrained palate with youthful fruit flavours and savoury persistence.

Winemaking in this area dates back to the mid 1800s, when settler George Egerton-Warburton planted vines on his property near Mount Barker. Two years later saw his first vintage bottled. Despite this, Great Southern was primarily an apple-growing region with a healthy yet small wine-industry until the 1960s, when wines finally took off and the region bloomed.

This diverse region is known for its mouth-watering Riesling, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Malbec. Visitors passing through must stop off at the award-winning West Cape Howe Wines, the environmentally conscious Plantagenet Wines and Frankland River’s Ferngrove, which was awarded 5-stars by pre-eminent wine critic James Halliday earlier this year.

To view Wine Selectors' great range of Western Australia wines, click here.