Wine and chocolate is one such match-made-in-heaven.

“There is so much romance and history with wine and chocolate together,” says Shannyn Harris, one of four owners at Mitchell Harris Wines who has put together the perfect celebration of this most seductive of sensory pairings for this year’s Good Food Ballarat.

Lovers of wine, chocolate and romance will be treated to a special evening event of unique wine and chocolate pairings, a collaboration between local flavor “alchemist” Craig McKenzie of Grounded Pleasures and Mitchell Harris chef Di Ray. 

Five wines will be paired with five chocolate creations. Think Shiraz jellies and chocolate truffles paired with sparkling Shiraz or chilli-infused chocolate delicacies washed down with a glass of local Cabernet.

Mitchell Harris was involved with the inaugural Good Food Ballarat event last year with its successful Best of the West “speed dating” event for wine lovers.

Since them, Ms. Harris has observed the foodie culture of the city continue to thrive, even through the long winter months:

“This Winter was a torrid one,” says Ms Harris.

“But people are still piling into the restaurants and coming to our wine bar in droves on Friday and Saturday nights. The more of that we see the more confidence it will give to more places opening up and having a go as well.”

“There’s been a bit of a momentum shift in the region to people entertaining and eating out, as opposed to eating at home. We’ve definitely noticed a lot more patronage and support within Ballarat and even within the region including the areas just outside Ballarat where people are happy to go to eat  - Avoca and Bunnerong – for instance.”

Outside of the November Good Food itinerary, Mitchell Harris continues to run its popular wine educational evenings and wine-making programs, says Ms. Harris, in which participants can become winemakers able to pick, blend and bottle their own wine.

“Educating locals about wine is a big part of what we do. We just had a Shiraz wine tasting and our next one is an Italian wine tasting with a strong educational aspect to it,” says Ms Harris.

“There’s also the wine bar side and wholesale wine-making production business as well.”

Mitchell Harris Wines will host their Chocolate and Wine – The Ultimate Pairing event on Tuesday, November 10 from 7pm.

Tickets are $65 per person and bookings can be made by calling 5331 8931.