Wine Blogging Wednesday Plus Sugar High Friday: A wine pairing challenge!

This month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday host, Jennifer Hamilton of The Domestic Goddess asks us to think about dessert FIRST and presents participants with a wine pairing challenge– which wine would you pair with which dessert? Thanks, Jennifer for hosting and offering us such a challenge! From her blog post,  Your Tenderest Twosome:

“Most meals end with dessert and coffee or a glass of liqueur. The focus on the meal is long since gone, as is the wine. Guests are getting sleepy, hosts are getting antsy about the clean-up ahead of them and no one is paying attention to what they’re eating or drinking anymore. I think this is shameful. Every once in a while, dessert deserves the attention given to a main course…

The proper pairing of a sugary confection with a good wine is a difficult thing to maneuver. I have seen it done a few times in restaurants, once or twice at dinner parties and maybe done it once myself – and I almost certainly managed it by accident. Do you go sweeter with the wine than the dessert or match it? Do you go red or white or ice? Do you try to harmonize regions or go completely off the map (so to speak) with your choice…?

You have the chance to decide all this and more for yourself this month with the first ever joint SHF-WBW Dessert-Wine Pairing Event! All bloggers (food, wine or otherwise) are welcome to participate. Post your entry on Wednesday, February 24.”

So what should I choose? Something familiar, like a Port, say  Twisted Oak Pig Stai? or Kachina Port?  Or something different like a 2002 or a 2006 Lillypilly Noble Blend from AUS?  Or should I go with a familiar and local winery, Old Creek Ranch Winery, and try their ice wine, a type of wine I’ve never had before?

So what will I be in the mood for? Something familiar? or something brand new? Guess now I need to do some research in the dessert department to figure out what I want to pair with what! What do you suggest?