Sommeliers Share Best Wine and Halloween Candy Pairings for Adults

Wine experts recommend pairing color, texture, and aromatics of candies with similar elements in wines; favorites include Reese's Peanut Butter Cups with Merlot and Sour Patch Kids with Pinot Grigio.

• Bertil Jean-Chronberg, a French-born sommelier, suggests pairing wine and Halloween candy based on matching elements of color, texture, and aromatics between the candy and the wine, such as orange Sour Patch Kids with orange wine.
• Jean-Chronberg’s favorite pairings include Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups paired with Gilbert Cellars' Red Left Bank and Sour Patch Kids' orange flavor with Savage Grace's Orange Gewurztraminer, while a surprising one is dark chocolate M&Ms with JB Neufeld’s Old Goat Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Kimberlee Lizakowski, a wine influencer, recommends pairings like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups with merlot, Sour Patch Kids with pinot grigio and M&M’s with Gamay, asserting the chosen wines can enhance the flavors of the candies.
• Other combinations proposed by Lizakowski include Starburst with viognier, Twizzlers with Sangiovese, candy corn with Chardonnay, Hershey’s with Zinfandel, Kit Kat with Pinot Noir, and Twix with cabernet sauvignon.
• Both wine experts warn about the potential adverse effects of pairing candy and wine before sleep due to the high levels of caffeine in many candies and the sleep-disrupting effects of alcohol.

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