Snacks & Treats
If you're hosting a party, holding a wine tasting or simply indulging in a glass or two of your favourite tipple at the end of the day, pairing a scrumptious snack to your delicious drink will enhance the experience.
Alcohol whets the appetite after all, triggering a reaction in your brain that controls your metabolism. So don’t fight nature, give in and indulge in a tasty treat.
Which is why we have hand-selected an array of delicious snacks and treats for you to choose from, to accompany your wine, beer or cocktail.
Nothing goes with alcohol quite like these snacks.
Popcorn
Popcorn is a great partner for wine or beer. Salty or sweet caramel coated, any flavour of popcorn works well because it simply doesn’t detract from the complexity of your drink.
Wine and popcorn
Plain popcorn works best with a Chenin Blanc or Chardonnay, this low calorie snack provides a creaminess that works in harmony with a cold glass of wine, without overwhelming it.
Salted or savoury popcorn will accompany a crisp Sauvignon Blanc mellifluously, in fact, this timeless match of salty and sharp acidity is replicated the food world over… just think salt and vinegar crisps.
Sweet popcorn and rose, is there a better combination? The ripe fruity flavours of your favourite rose are complemented and mirrored beautifully with a mouthful of sweet popcorn.
Beer and popcorn
A winner’s combination. These two go great together, so take the time to find out your favourite pairing. For us, we love contrasting flavours - a light beer with a salty, savoury popcorn, or a dark hoppy beer with a sweet salted caramel.
And if you haven’t tried a bourbon and sweet popcorn, you haven’t lived.
Chocolate
Chocolate and alcohol, two things that make the world go round. However they can be a tricky pairing to pull off, so a simple rule of thumb to follow can be to match lighter chocolate with lighter bodied drinks.
Matching the flavours of each specific element can be tough, but hey, if it means tasting more chocolate (or alcohol) to ensure you’ve got it sorted, what’s wrong with that?
To help you out, we have taken the time to select our chocolates to ensure the ultimate flavour combination, regardless of what’s in your glass.
Wine and chocolate
But which type of chocolate goes with which type of wine?
- White chocolate. White chocolate has a creamy, gentle flavour that is light and fresh. Pair it with a Riesling, a Rose or a dessert wine such as Sauternes or Moscato.
- Milk chocolate. Milk chocolate works well with slightly stronger white wines like Viognier, Sparkling Wine or Pinot Gris - a little touch of body brings out the milk chocolate flavour notes sublimely.
- Dark chocolate. Dark chocolate and rich red wine have gone together for eons. For a strong full bodied, bittersweet chocolate, choose an intense Cabernet Sauvignon for a powerful partner.
Beer and chocolate
Whilst chocolate might seem like the ultimate pairing with wine, we’ll let you in on a secret - chocolate and beer work equally well too, providing some amazing and wholly unexpected flavour combinations.
- A rich, high percentage dark chocolate complements stout superbly.
- A salted chocolate and IPA can go toe to toe.
- Milk chocolate and lager just works.
Nuts
Alcohol and nuts have been the bartender’s choice since time immemorial. Wine, cocktails or beer, there’s something about the natural marriage of alcohol and nuts that just brings out the best in each other. Maybe it’s a texture thing, maybe it’s more scientific. The point is, they work well, and salty, plain or sweet, we have a nut that will go with your preferred tipple.
