9News Denver -Cherry wine a TV star

Feb 8 - Denver
9News Denver features select Colorado wines with gourmet Lioni Chocolates of Boulder. Doug Caskey director of the Colorado Wine Board offers easy tips for pairing wines and chocolates. He compares the flavors of Port, Cabernet Sauvignon, Dessert wines and our Cherry wine with dark and milk chocolate choices.

9NEWS Your Money Reporter Heidi McGuire is "SOLD" on our tasting room favorite - dipping the glass in the melty chocolate and sipping the cool Cherry wine over the chocolate flavors.

Watch it here!


Here is the story from 9News Denver:
DENVER - If you like chocolate and if you like wine, it may seem like a no brainer to share this duo with your sweetie this Valentine's Day.

9NEWS Your Money Reporter Heidi McGuire found the right person to help you make the right purchase when pairing these popular indulgences.

Doug Caskey is the executive director of the Colorado Wine Industry and he brought in five bottles of local wines to pair with chocolates from local Boulder-based chocolatier Jenny Thamer of Lioni Chocolates. Thamer starter her business one year ago and currently sells her hand-crafted truffles online at www.lionichocolate.com, at Cured in Boulder, and at The Perfect Petal in Denver.

Caskey says the most important thing to keeping mind when choosing a wine to pair with chocolate is to buy what you like. If you force it, then chances are you're not going to like either. And keep it simple. Wine can be complex on its own, so try to keep your chocolate pairings to the basics like dark, milk, and white chocolate.

Caskey's local wine recommendations:

Red wines:
Colterris Cabernet Savingon, Palisade, CO
Two Rivers Winery Port, Grand Junction, CO

Caskey says a lot of people like the traditional combo of a Cabernet Savingnon with dark chocolate. The rich earthy tones compliment each other nicely, but he suggests a dark chocolate with a port. It's a sweet red wine that will pair well with the sweet chocolate.

Light Dessert Wines:
BookCliff Vineyards Black Muscat, Boulder, CO

Carlson Vineyards Cherry Wine, Palisade, CO - www.carlsonvineyards.com, widely available in liquor stores.

Caskey pulled two dessert wines to pair with Lioni's milk chocolate. Caskey says Calson's Cherry Wine is like cherry pie in a glass and the vineyard even offers a tasting of this sweet and tart wine with a chocolate rimmed glass. A must try if you're on the western slope.

Caskey says the Black Muscat is also a good choice, since it's a dessert wine, the sugars match the sugar in the milk chocolate nicely, so one doesn't taste bitter next to the other.

White Wine:
Desert Moon Vinyards Shiver Riesling, Englewood, CO

The lighter your wine, the lighter your chocolate says Caskey, and that why he paired the Desert Moon Ice-wine, Shiver, with Lioni's white chocolate truffle. Caskey says this pairing is perfect because the acidy of this Riesling will help cut through the sweetness of the chocolate.

(KUSA-TV © 2012 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)