Yes, you can pair wine with sweets! The trick is the same one that makes any great pairing work: match the sweetness, echo the flavours and let the bubbles or acidity keep things fresh. A good rule to remember is that your wine should always be at least as sweet as what you’re eating. Otherwise it tastes thin and sour, and nobody wants that.
Here are eight pairings worth stealing for your next spooky soirée.
Roast Pumpkin & Pinot Gris
Start with something savoury-sweet. Roasting pumpkin caramelises its natural sugars and gives it a cosy, earthy depth. Pinot Gris has a round, silky texture with notes of pear and a hint of spice, which is exactly what roast pumpkin wants. Serve it with a sage-butter drizzle and you’ve got an elegant starter.
Peanut Butter Cups & Tawny Port
This is the grown-up version of your favourite childhood treat. Tawny Port is all toffee, roasted nuts and dried fruit, so it slips in alongside peanut butter and milk chocolate like they were made for each other. Serve it in small glasses, because it’s rich and it’s meant to be savoured.
Salted Popcorn & Prosecco
It’s an easy win and a movie-night essential. The salt makes the fruit in the wine pop, and the bubbles cut through the buttery richness and refresh your palate between handfuls. Pour a glass, put on something spooky and call it a night.
M&Ms & Sparkling Rosé
Playful, pretty and just a little bit cheeky. Sparkling rosé brings red berry fruit and a crisp fizz that lifts the sweetness of the sweet-coated chocolate without weighing it down. It’s also the most photogenic pairing on the table, which never hurts.
Kit Kat & Moscato
Light, crisp wafer and creamy chocolate call for something equally delicate. Moscato is gently sweet and low in alcohol, with peach and orange blossom notes and sometimes a soft fizz. It’s friendly with chocolate and won’t overpower it. Break off a finger, take a sip and repeat.
Red Velvet Cupcakes & Merlot
Red velvet is only mildly chocolatey, with a tang from the cream cheese frosting. Merlot has soft tannins and plush plum and cherry flavours, so it complements the cake rather than competing with it. It’s a very good-looking pairing, too.
Gummy Worms & Off-Dry Rosé
Gummy worms are fruity, chewy and a bit silly, and an off-dry rosé is the best partner for them. A touch of residual sugar in the wine matches the sweetness of the candy, while the strawberry and watermelon notes echo those fruity flavours. It’s playful, and it works.
Caramel Apples & Riesling
Riesling’s green apple freshness and zippy acidity cut through sticky caramel, and an off-dry style brings its own honeyed sweetness to the party. If you’re dipping your own apples, keep a bottle chilled nearby.
A Few Tips for Pairing Wine with Candy
Match the sweetness. Sweeter treats need a sweeter wine, or at least a fruity one.
Bubbles are your best friend. Sparkling wine resets your palate between bites.
Keep portions small. A few pieces of candy and a half-glass of wine is plenty for a tasting.
Chill your whites, rosés and bubbles well. Serve Port and Merlot just slightly cooler than room temperature.
Make it a tasting. Line up two or three pairings and see which one wins.
