Plan your wine country getaway with someone special for Red Wine and Chocolate Weekend in the Yakima Valley. Sip and savor signature Yakima Valley red wines perfectly paired with delectable chocolates. Warm up with Yakima Valley wineries and enjoy special activities and seasonal savings.
No event passport needed! Simply take your tour of favorite wineries and enjoy the weekend’s special offerings. Here’s a peak at some of the perfect pairings throughout the Yakima Valley.
Make the Yakima Valley Visitor Information Center your first stop for more details and recommendations for your visit. While you’re there, pick up something special from local craftsmen and artisans. Check out the Red Wine and Chocolate winery offerings.
Wine Country Lodging How to Pair Red Wine and ChocolatePick up Yakima Valley wine maps, information on the special treats wineries are offering, winery hours, and a comprehensive entertainment listing for your weekend. Shop a variety of Yakima Valley made products in the gift shop, as well as unique souvenir items.
Main Visitors Center
Wed - Sat 10:00am - 4:00pm
Closed Sunday and Monday Presidents Day
Valley Mall Kiosk Visitors Center
Thurs - Sun 10:00am - 4:00pm
Closed Monday Presidents Day
The Bier Den
Yakima , Downtown Yakima
Kana Winery
Yakima , Downtown Yakima
Yakima Valley Vintners - YVC Yakima and Grandview Campuses
Yakima , Grandview
AntoLin Cellars
Yakima , Downtown Yakima
Wilridge Vineyard, Winery and Distillery
Yakima
Owen Roe
Wapato
Freehand Cellars
Wapato
Hyatt Vineyards
Zillah
Dineen Vineyards
Zillah
Two Mountain Winery
Zillah
Paradisos del Sol Winery and Organic Vineyard
Zillah
Velen Winery
Zillah
Zillah
Knight Hill Winery
Zillah
Whitman Hill Winery
Zillah
J.Bell Cellars and Lavender
Zillah
Rattlesnake Hills Wine Trail
Zillah
J.Bell Cellars and Lavender
Zillah
Horizon's Edge Winery
Zillah
Cultura Wine
Zillah
Tanjuli Winery
Zillah
VanArnam Vineyards
Zillah
Bonair Winery
Zillah
Severino Cellars
Zillah
Martinez and Martinez Winery
Prosser
Prosser
DavenLore Winery
Prosser
Alexandria Nicole Cellars
Prosser
Mercer Wine Estates
Prosser
Tirriddis Sparkling Wines
Prosser
Barrel Springs Winery
Prosser
Milbrandt Vineyards and Ryan Patrick Wines
Prosser
Airfield Estates Winery
Prosser
Chukar Cherries
Prosser
Wautoma Springs
Prosser
Coyote Canyon Winery
Prosser
Wit Cellars
Prosser
Muret-Gaston and Purple Star Wines
Benton City
Tucannon Cellars
Benton City
Hamilton Cellars
Benton City
The events listings above only contain members of Yakima Valley Tourism. If you would like to receive information regarding membership, please contact the Director of Member Services at (509) 575-3010.
Member Wineries of Yakima Valley Tourism participating in Red Wine and Chocolate can submit their event here, to add their food and wine pairings.
Both wine and chocolate can be very complex on their own, so keep it simple with three basics:
Since chocolate coats your mouth when you eat it, you'll need a wine that's big enough to cut through its richness. Try looking for flavors in both that are similar to one another. Use your taste buds. The most important factor in all this, as in all pairings of food and wine, is that only you can decide what tastes best. Use the following guidelines to help you get started, and then let your taste buds lead the way.
White chocolate, though not a true chocolate due to its absence of cacao, is a super-sweet blend of sugar, milk and cocoa butter. Try a Riesling or Gewürztraminer.
Milk chocolate, which contains a small amount of cacao, is the sweetest of the real chocolates with its high sugar content. Remember rule one and choose a sweeter wine than chocolate, or the pairing might leave your mouth tasting like a rubber band. For milk chocolate, your best match might just be a sweet and tasty tawny port. But if you find the right bottle of pinot noir, you won't be disappointed.
Chocolate that contains about 50 to 70 percent cacao is known as semisweet, the sweetest of the dark chocolates. With tones that are nutty, spicy, or earthy, semisweet dark chocolate has a balanced and less sweet aftertaste than milk or white chocolate. Cabernets or Bordeauxs will tend to bring out any fruity or peppery nuances in the chocolate, while a ruby port is considered a classic pairing with semisweet chocolate.
The richest, most intensely flavored chocolates are known as the bittersweet darks, which contain the least amount of sugar, and the greatest amount of cacao - anywhere from about 71 and 100 percent. Their bitter, roasted flavoring is so intense, that it really needs a strong red wine to balance the taste. Zinfandels are the go-to when it comes to pairing wine and bittersweet dark. Since these chocolates are the least sweet, your pallet of appropriate pairings is much wider, meaning you can also experiment with many of the sweeter wines like ports and muscats.
Once you've got a great pairing, it's nothing but bliss. Start by tasting the wine, allowing its flavors to fully saturate your mouth. Then take a bite of the chocolate, letting it slowly melt on your tongue.
and you might never consider having wine without chocolate ever again.