Once your kid’s stash of candy is secure in the adult vault of candy rationing, it’s time to crack open the vino. Here is your guide to pairing Halloween candy with wine.
On Halloween night, after the crowds of ghosts, ghost-busters, naughty and nice fairies, Star Wars characters, zombies, skeletons, and vampires put away their ‘trick or treat’ declarations, the real fun begins.
While the kids are counting their candy bars, the adults who hold sway over those candy inventories—
are counting corks, and reminiscing over the great bottles of wine that helped keep the celebrations incredibly merry—if not a bit spooky.
And once the stash of candy has been placed securely in the adult vault of candy rationing, we all know why that stash is about half as big the next day—oh, yes, we know why.
So, while you’re keeping watch over those hard-earned candies—AHEM—keep handy this guide to pairing Halloween candy with wine. Because no one wants to be spooked by a bad pairing—especially if you have to explain that the blood stain on your favorite party dress is not vampire blood at all, but rather, you dumped wine on yourself because your six-year-old climbed out of bed and caught you rummaging through their candy stash.
Happy Halloween!
SUGAR BABIES and CANDY CORN
👉 Chardonnay 👈
While our first choice Halloween candy pairing for chardonnay would be the caramel taste of Sugar Babies, you just can’t overlook a Halloween classic like candy corn. After chocolate, candy corn is the favorite Halloween treat, according to the National Confectioners Association! A buttery Chardonnay will complement the candy’s butteriness without overpowering it, while the softer acidity typical of Chardonnay will cut through some of the sugary sweetness. Shop Chardonnay
SKITTLES and SWEETARTS
👉 Sauvignon Blanc 👈
Skittles deliver decadent, fruity pops of flavor, so match that flavor overload with the zesty, citrus-driven qualities of a Sauvignon Blanc (even those that run into tropical fruit territory). Also, most Sauvignon Blanc is high in acidity, which can sometimes produce the taste of powdered candy, like Sweetarts. So, bite into a Sweetart and wash it down with Sauv Blanc and see if you can tell the difference! Shop Sauvignon Blanc
SOUR PATCH KIDS and HOT TAMALES
👉 Rosé 👈
Sour Patch Kids are awesome—until you’ve had three, and then, like a bag of potato chips, you’re just consuming calories. So, at least liven up those calories with a lively glass of rosé, which, with its typically bright fruity, or candied-fruit profile will enhance more of the fruit flavors in the gummy worms and sour patch kids. Meanwhile, the acidity in the wine will do its best to combat the bitter, sour qualities in the Sour Patch Kids, but those kids might win the battle. No worries, keep sipping. Show them who is boss. Shop Rosés
PEANUT BUTTER CUPS
👉 Merlot 👈
Reese’s is a blend of sweet and salty perfection. You’ve got the sugar from the chocolate and the salty from the peanut butter. Peanut butter can be a little fatty too, which is why this is like the best steak and red wine pairing you’ve ever had. The secret to pairing red meat with red wine is the salt—salt enhances the richness of wine, and decreases bitterness and acidity, and astringency. So a plump Merlot when sipped after a salty-sweet bite of Reese’s is going to seem richer, fuller, and more aliiiiiiiiive! It’s aliiiiiiiiive!!!! Sorry. We had to. Shop Merlot
HERSHEY’S CHOCOLATE BAR, KISSES, and M&Ms
👉 Zinfandel 👈
There is nothing on earth like Hershey’s milk chocolate. It tastes the same today as it did 30 years ago. And the one wine that possesses a kind of timeless chocolaty-ness is Zinfandel. After a rush of ripe, jammy fruit, most Zins finish with a classic chocolate note, so, paired with anything Hershey will be like sipping down chocolate-covered berries with every sip. Bonus points if you follow each sip with a handful of M&M’s! Decadent! Shop Zinfandel
SNICKERS BAR
👉 Cabernet Sauvignon 👈
Snickers is pure satisfaction (like the commercials decree). Peanuts, caramel, nougat, and chocolate, combine to form a complex bite of candy bar. You need a wine equally complex and charismatic to draw out each of the flavors in the candy. Now, Cabernet Sauvignon with its ample dark fruit and typically chocolate or caramel undertones from oak aging is a good match for Snickers, which has a fair amount of saltiness thanks to the peanut elements. And it’s the salt that makes this pairing work. Shop Cabernet Sauvignon
NERDS ROPE PIECES, SWEDISH FISH, SPREE
👉 Sparkling Wine 👈
These sweet treats paired with sparkling wine create another favorite: pop rocks! Crack open the sparkling wine (with the saber, of course), pop a handful of any of these (Nerds are our faves), take a sip, and indulge yourself in the foamy burst of fruity flavor and pat yourself on the back for not taking yourself too seriously. After all—it’s Halloween, and we’re all kids again on October 31. Shop Sparkling Wine
