I am coming out of the gate, and no holds are barred with this one. All too often, around Halloween, media sites, magazines, bloggers, and television segments talk about 'what wine pairs with your favourite Halloween chocolate bar', and in every single one of them, the pairings suggested are never good. Often these matchy matchy pieces are suggesting a candy or chocolate bar with 50 grams of sugar, with a dry wine with only 2 grams of sugar; this will never work.
Infographic: Top 10 Halloween Candy and the Ideal Pairings that Actually Work
Pairing Sugar with Wine
When pairing a sweet food item with wine, you need to find a wine that holds equal or even more sugar. If your food item grossly outweighs your wine when it comes to sugar, you will note that your wine will fall flat and sour on the palate, as it is being overshadowed by the sweet taste in your food item. This does not mean you cannot pair wines with your Halloween candy. You just have to be mindful about what you choose to pair.
Top 10 Halloween Candy and the Ideal Pairings that Actually Work
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups + Oloroso Sherry
Oloroso Sherry has an intense nutty profile with a range of sugar profiles that will meet your Reese's Peanut Butter Cup where it's at
Skittles + Off Dry Riesling
The acidity of the Riesling will address the texture of your Skittle, and combined with its residual sugar makes for a great fit.
M&Ms + Sauternes
To be clear, this is the original M&M that is simply filled with soft milk chocolate. Because of the mouth feel of the inner flesh of an M&M, we have selected Sauternes as the pairing wine not just because of its residual sugar, but because of its matching mouth feel.
Starburst + Tokaji
We went with Tokaji for the Starburst pairing because of its acidity and citrus profile coupled with its residual sugar. Tokaji also brings some herbal flavours to the palate which actually transforms that Starburst from that pedestrian candy to an actual mouth experience.
Snickers + Madeira
Along with Madeira's great acidity, fruity undertones, and nutty nature are the caramel flavours it imparts on the palate, and it is this caramel profile that makes it a great pairing for your Snickers or Mars bar, for that matter.
Mars + Madeira
See the Snickers explanation above
Kit Kat + Ruby Port
You want a wine that will not only stand up to the sugar in your Kit Kat, but also the texture and your Ruby Port will do that.
Sour Patch Kids + Prosecco
Grabbing a Prosecco with elevated residual sugar will be a perfect match for your Sour Patch Kids. The acidity in the Prosecco will address the sour palate profile of your candy, plus many of the fruit flavours in your candy an be found both on the nose and on the palate of your Prosecco, which is almost always highly aromatic and bursting of the same Sour Patch notes.
Coffee Crisp + Tawny Port
The reasons discussed in the Kit Kat explanation stand here. Note, however, that we are suggesting a Tawny Port here because of the extended barrel time that adds spice and elements of coffee notes to the wine, therefore making this a play on a congruent pairing.
Hershey's Kisses + Recioto
This powerful Italian sweet wine, Recioto, is perfect for your Hershey's Kisses. Not only is it well structures and balanced, it itself has a palate reminiscent of chocolate, dark fruit, and depth. It is the perfect Hershey's Kisses pairing.
The official Top 10 list of Halloween Candy can be found here.
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