Given many descriptions for powerful red wines include chocolate or cocoa, there is an understanding that matching wine and chocolate is one made in heaven – a combination of two sensual experiences.

However, anyone who has tried pairing them may well have been disappointed, finding the sweetness of chocolate detracts from the complexity of the wine and leaving both fighting out a colossal battle with your taste buds. In a cocoa shell, more hell than heaven.

In the same way food is paired with wine, chocolate must be weighted to the wine to balance the demands on the palate. There is a perfect wine for every chocolate and experimenting is the only way to find that match.

Matching light-flavoured chocolates with lighter-bodied wines and more intense-flavoured ones with full-bodied wines is a starting point. Lighter chocolate refers to the overall flavour and not the colour or white and milk chocolates versus dark chocolate – and a dark chocolate with a delicate grenache can be lighter in flavour than white or milk chocolate filled with intense caramel or with spicy or nut centres.

The secret is seeking out similar characteristics in the wine to those in the chocolate or playing devil’s advocate and striking at the contrasts. There are no right or wrong answers, but subtleties that show which combinations work in personal circumstances.

Some people enjoy a fruity cabernet sauvignon or zinfandel with chocolate, while others find the combination too dry and many experts recommend fortified wines because the sweetness and structure matches the chocolate.