Wine with Cheesecake

[Dr. Debs]

OK, folks. I was asked to bring a dessert wine to a dinner and the dessert in question turned out to be chocolate swirl cheesecake. Right now I am leaning toward Brachetto d'Acqui, but wonder if Eiswein wouldn't be better (normally what I serve with custardy type desserts). Anyone have thoughts on this? And why couldn't they serve chocolate cake???

[tdo ca]

Also Barsac. And there are plenty of late harvest, botrytized whites available which should work as well as a Sauternes.

[tdo ca]

Or the Bonny Doon Framboise.

[Chicago Mike]

Framboise might be interesting here given the affinity of berries to chocolate. TRY A COUPLE THINGS!

[Dr. Debs]

Well, I could show up with 3 bottles of wine, but since I won't taste said cheesecake until dessert (someone else is making it) I think I will be choosing between two sparklers: the Banfi Brachetto d'Acqui and the Bonny Doon Moscato d'Asti. I thought of the Brachetto because it has that strawberry essence to it, which I thought might be nice with the chocolate/vanilla swirl thing going on (kind of like adding a strawberry sauce). I like the textural contrast between the creamy cheesecake and the sparkling wine (I am a bit worried about the Framboise--too syrupy?) suggested in both the brachetto and the moscato d'asti.

[Captain]

I like the suggestion of a muscat. Cheesecake not matter how light is still a rich nd heavy dessert by the time it lands in your stomach. It's not eating sorbet, which seems to disappear in minutes from my stomach. So, I would not want a heavy wine, such as any fortified wine (port for instance), and an ice wine would also be a bit heavy. However, a light muscat would do it for me. I'd probably get the best Moscato D'Asti I could find.

[Dr. Debs]

I've got a Bonny Doon Moscato d'Asti Il Giocoliere sitting in the cellar. How's that?

[Chicago Mike]

There are several wines that would probably work fairly well here. The main question is how intense is the chocolate ??

If it's a fairly pronounced chocolate then that really points towards a Muscat.

If it's a "hint" of chocolate then I would probably favor a Sauternes or sweet vouvray.

To answer your question regarding the dessert riesling, that would be appropriate in the "hint of chocolate" situation but not as much so if it's a strong chocolate flavor, IMO.

[Dr. Debs]

Thanks Chicago Mike. I'm not into a dessert riesling--it would be a Vidal Blanc Eiswein. None of my sauternes is ready to drink yet. I hadn't thought of Muscat--that's a possibility, too.

[Chicago Mike]

....Unless you're talking about a very special bottle, most Sauternes can be drank upon release....

[Dr. Debs]

There is no way I'm opening my 2003 Ch. Lafaurie-Peyraguey for a few years, at least.

[BellaDonna]

Late harvest zinfandel
NV Port

[Dr. Debs]

Ooh, late harvest zin! I was worried port might be too much, but maybe because I find port dessert in and of itself!

[brattenheimer]

I 120% agree with this; a zinfandel port will go GREAT with chocolate. Another good bet would be Bonny Doon's Bouteille Call dessert wine (play on words w/ Booty Call). You can usually pick this up at Cost Plus, maybe even Trader Joe's.

As for the Eiswein - I would only pair that with a more fruit-based dessert like a tarte tatin, fruit shortcake, strawberry pie, etc. It would even go well with a pumpkin pie.