What Wine Goes With Birthday Cake?

Sunday, September 13, 2015 birthday cakes , birthday wine labels , featured , wine pairings 0 Comments

Firstly we all know there aren't wine police out there who are going to sweep in and arrest you for getting it wrong!  Personally, my first thought is to simply go for Champagne! It's just goes with anything right?

It might not be something you've considered but it's worth a thought, because if you're intending to serve a Brut champagne with your cake, the dryness (brut) will make the wine taste metallic and bitter. Combined with the cake it will just taste horrible.  You'll be better off with a "demi-sec" bubbly because it's sweetness will simply complement the cake.  A simple rule of thumb is that the wine should be much sweeter than the cake.


I guess it's all about balance. If you're serving a rich chocolate cake, you could accentuate the taste with a dry and fruity Merlot. Dry, dense cakes, like fruit cakes, go really well with a Moscato d' Asti or a good Port.  But then a strong Merlot or Port would be terrible with something like Pavlova.  The light and creamy Pavlova would need something much more delicate like a Moscato d'Asti.

There are so many choices for cake flavours... chocolate, vanilla, coconut, you could find a wine which has the same flavours to complement.  So if you were planning to serve carrot cake (my favourite, yum) you could try a Riesling which is sweet with peach flavours, nuts and orange blossom which would complement the cake perfectly.

Chocolate cake would be complemented perfectly with a Cabernet Sauvignon which is rich with flavours of vanilla and caramel.

Lemon Cake goes great with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc which is full of citrus and tropical flavours.

Vanilla is the main flavour of a lot of cakes and simply served best with a good glass of Chardonnay because it has buttery flavours and vanilla.

For those who like coffee cake, it would be best served with a glass of Madeira wine.  This is a Portuguese sweet wine with flavours of caramel, almonds and coffee.

So it's definitely worth thinking about cake and wine pairings to put a great big smile on the face of each and every one of your party guests.