Mumm's the word in sparkling wine with chocolate

Say Happy Valentine's Day with wine and chocolate. But which wine?

Sparkling wine provides a traditional gift, but not all are appropriate to go with all kinds of chocolates.

Some prefer red wine as a companion for chocolate.

Be warned: Wines that work with milk chocolate might not work with dark chocolate and vice versa.

The wine-tasting group compared five sparkling wines and five reds matched with a kind of chocolate truffle, made with dark chocolate, cream, cream cheese and hazelnuts.

We first tasted each wine without the food and voted for our favorite. Then we repeated the process with the dessert.

Sparkling wines

Here is what we found, beginning with sparkling wines:

- Marquis de Perlade Blanc de Blanc at $10.99. This bubbly had a toasty aroma with pears and peaches. It was very effervescent in the mouth, a kind of instant gratification. With the dessert, though, nearly all the fruit went away. The sweetness of the chocolate made the wine taste bitter.

- Piper Sonoma Blanc de Noirs at $19.99. The Piper had a creamy, sweet aroma with plenty of peaches. The texture was like a cream soda. With the food, it was an OK match, but neither the food nor the wine was elevated in stature.

- Cristalino Rose at $9.99. This Cava from Spain looked and tasted festive. It had a mouth-watering aroma of tangerines with notes of smoke. In the mouth, we tasted rhubarb, a hint of iodine and cola. With the food, the wine was a good match, bringing out the tastes of orange and cola. This wine ranked as our second favorite with the food.

- Mumm Napa Blanc de Noirs at $19.99. This wine had a pretty, effervescent aroma, very floral with hints of lemon peel and strawberries. It had a nice finish. It made very nice pairing, reminding us of chocolate-covered cherries. The Mumm rated our favorite both alone and with the dessert.

- Gloria Ferrer Blanc de Noirs at $19.99. The Gloria Ferrer was the most gentle of the five, soft and subtle. The wine was foamy but easy to drink. The flavors were peach, pear and melon. This was our second favorite wine without the chocolate. With the dessert, though, the wine tasted like grapefruit.

Red wines

- 2001 Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon at $14.99. This wine had a complex aroma, of pepper, iron and dark fruit. On the palate, it was green and tannic (makes your mouth pucker), meaning it needs some aging to reach its full potential. The wine was harmonious with the dessert, but lost a little of its character.

- 1999 Sebastiani Sonoma County Merlot at $15.99. This aroma had a bit of leather, with chocolate and iron. It had a nice palate, full of pepper and spice. It tied for first in our comparison without the dessert. The Sebastiani worked in good harmony with the food, toning down the bitterness of the dark chocolate.

- 2001 Santa Ema Reserve Merlot at $10.99. This wine had an aroma of cocoa and creme, almost like an Oreo cookie. In the mouth, we tasted lots of caramel. The Santa Ema tied as our favorite without the food. With the dessert, the chocolate made the wine a little more tart. Some tasters thought the wine too bitter, but most thought it was the best, most intense combination. It was our favorite red with the chocolate.

- 2000 Il Cuore Rosso Classico at $11.99. This wine had a rich, briery aroma, more Old World minerally than the other fruity wines in this tasting. The chocolate helped the wine, stood up to it and made it a little salty.

- 2001 Liberty School Cabernet Sauvignon at $17.99. The Liberty School had an herbaceous, floral aroma with ripe fruit. The texture was velvety with flavors of vanilla and dark fruit. It had a pleasant fruit finish. However, the dark chocolate was not a good match.

Questions can be sent to Frank Sutherland, editor, The Tennessean, 1100 Broadway, Nashville, TN 37203 or e-mailed to editor