How exciting to learn that October 18 is National Chocolate Cupcake Day! I say we make a weekend of it and indulge in variations on the theme on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Did you know that cupcakes can be traced back to 1796 when a recipe notation of “a cake to be baked in small cups” was written in American Cookery, by Amelia Simmons. Hooray for small cakes – especially small chocolate cakes. There are lots of wines that pair well with chocolate. One of my favorites is from the New Jersey winery Tomasello, which is impressively a 4th-generation, family-run winery dating to the 1930’s. They make a line of fruit wines that are really delicious, and one of them is a Raspberry Wine. It is bursting with fresh, ripe, red raspberry. It’s not syrupy and it’s not too strong at just 11% ABV. It’s the perfect dessert sipper. Add a chocolate cupcake and heaven is at hand.
