The Best Wine to Drink with Your Favorite Halloween Candy
Trick your celebration out with a wine that’s perfectly matched to your candy crush. Whether you crave Snickers, Whoppers, or Starbursts, we’ve got the best vino pairing and recommendations on great bottles.
Think it’s impossible to pair wine with candy? Think again. Halloween treats are obviously hyper sweet, and some have chocolate, which is always a tricky pairing. But fruit and nuts are a big part of the flavor profile of many popular confections, and that opens up a world of wine pairings. Many of the rules that apply to savory food come into play at Halloween, also. Over-the-top richness? Bubbles should stand up to that. Cut creaminess with acid, and sweetness with minerality. Above all—have fun! Candy and wine are two of the greatest things you can put in your mouth, and it doesn’t pay to analyze it too deeply. If a pairing works for you, it’s a good match and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
We only recommend things we love. If you buy something through our site, we might earn a commission.
Candy Corn + Prosecco
Bottle to Try:
Nino Franco Prosecco Rustico, $17.99
How to compete with candy corn’s waxy, saccharine spirit? Bubbles. And lots of them. The effervescence in a clean, elegant sparkling wine not only mellows candy corn’s over-the-top sweetness—it helps coax out the inherent creaminess in Halloween’s most divisive candy. This combo, dare we say, might even convert candy corn’s biggest skeptics.
Snickers + Syrah
Bottle to Try:
Edmunds St. John, Fenaughty Vineyard Syrah, $31.99
There’s just something uniquely transcendent about the union of roasted nuts and a deep, rich red. Tack on the vanillin harmony between caramel, nougat, and a gentle dose of oak, and the symbiosis of Snickers and Syrah is pretty much a match made in candy-coated heaven.
Butterfinger + Chardonnay
Bottle to Try:
Domaine Eden Chardonnay, Santa Cruz Mountains, $32
Despite the thin layer of chocolate, Butterfinger bars are fairly one-dimensional. As the name suggests, it tastes like butterscotch. Pair with a medium-bodied chardonnay that has a streak of fat-cutting acid (read: doesn’t OD on oak).
Nerds + Reisling
Bottles to Try:
Argyle Nuthouse Riesling, $34
St. Urbans-Hof Estate Riesling QbA, $17
Tart, tangy, and tooth-achingly sweet, Nerds beg for a wine that can do battle with lots, nay, mountains of sugar. An off-dry Riesling (sorry Spatlese and Auslese rieslings!) is a great foil. Seek one with bright acidity and some mineral edge.
Starburst + Rosé
Bottle to Try:
Chateau Trinquevedel Tavel Rosé, $9 (375ml)
Pink wines aren’t just for summer. With so many good, inexpensive rosés now on the market, it has become as much of a refrigerator staple as sriracha and mustard. Don’t believe us, pop the cork on any crisp, refreshing bottle from Provence to Piedmont and watch it tame the amplified fruit flavors of Starburst, Nerds, or Airheads. As if you needed another excuse to raid your kid’s Trick or Treat bucket.
Whoppers + Pinot Noir
Bottles to Try:
Chateau Thivin Cote de Brouilly, $23
Broc Cellars Valdiguie, $28
Essentially a spherical shot of malt powder, Whoppers are one of the easiest confections to match with wine. Think in terms of the soda fountain favorite and partner with any flavor from the Neapolitan holy trinity (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry). We lean toward the fruitier, strawberry-laden end of the spectrum, hence our preference for a juicy Pinot Noir, Gamay, or even Napa Gamay (aka Valdiguie).
Almond Joy + Sherry
Bottle to Try:
Bodegas Grant “La Garrocha” Amontillado sherry, $32
Think sherry is just for backgammon playing grannies? Think again. Aged fortified wines (Amontillado and Oloroso sherries, for example) develop nutty, whiskey-like notes that are natural companions with a range of desserts—particularly almonds and coconut. Bonus: medium sweet sherries are not only one of the wine world’s best values, an open bottle can last for up to two years in your fridge.
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups + Lambrusco
Bottle to Try:
Labrusca Lambrusco Rosso Emilia NV, $13
When it comes to great culinary tandems, peanut butter and jelly is up there with salt and pepper. So stick with what works and chase those iconic corrugated cups with jelly’s boozy surrogate: Lambrusco. Mind you, we’re not talking about the fizzy, mass produced bottom-shelf dwellers that gave Lambrusco a bad reputation in the 1980’s. No, we’re obsessed with Emilia-Romagna’s finest, which are bone-dry, yet brimming with notes of violet, raspberry, and yes, Concord grapes.
Keep Reading:
The Latest
