And chocolate works surprisingly well with wine.
The higher the cocoa solid content in chocolate, the darker it will appear, the richer it will taste and the more theobromine and phenethylamine (the brain's happy hormones) it will contain. Dark chocolate also tends to have lower sugar content, a slightly bitter taste and a rich, tongue-coating, lingering texture that complements the tannins in red wine.
This is the principal reason why the two pair so well. Milk chocolate has more cream (or milk) and sugar in it, so it's too sweet and mutes the flavours of the wine.
Beyond pairing, wine makers have also been inspired by chocolate. Three young Californians - Brandon Allen, Bo Silliman and Chip Forsythe, all friends since high school - started making wine as a way to meet girls at university. Their first foray involved collecting leftover lees (that's the goopy stuff at the bottom of the barrel with the dead yeast cells and sediment) and storing it in a big barrel.
From that they produced their first 300 bottles, onto which they attached handmade labels with their phone numbers. Their wine, Sexual Chocolate, has now evolved into a modestly successful brand. It even featured in a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art exhibit called "How Wine Became Modern", which the boys only found out about when attendees began getting in touch.
The wine itself is a syrah and zinfandel blend, with chewy tannins - but when I tried it with dark chocolate, the wine completely mellowed out on the palate. All in all, a very moreish combination.