Cab-by Corn: A Halloween Pairing

It’s never too early to embrace the Halloween season. After all, we already have Thanksgiving and Christmas items on sale at stores. Every year, the buying season for the holidays comes closer and closer. It’s only a matter of time until we truly have Christmas in July. To celebrate both Halloween, my birthday, and all the great friends I made on Twitter (follow me at @loolabette), I threw together a little party. It was a pretty small affair since I can’t have that many people fit into my place.

I don’t want to say this post is Halloween themed. After all, I only used a Halloween candy: candy corn. The wine is just a regular Cabernet Sauvignon but from a brand I trust. I did not want to go the white route since those tend to be a little sweeter and I couldn’t see that working with the confectionary overload that is candy corn. I went with a Layer Cake because it is the brand I can trust. Before launching into my party of drunken debauchery (ok it was pretty tame), I took all my notes regarding this pairing. I wanted to make sure I was coherent.

The Wine: Layer Cake, Cabernet Sauvignon

Layers of Flavor

Candy: Brach’s Candy Corn

An American (?) Classic

The Dream:

Honestly, what does candy corn even taste like? How can you pair candy corn with anything when you really think about it? I don’t even understand the hang ups regarding candy corn. Is it the texture? The flavor is honestly just sugar and maybe some honey substitute. I needed a wine that counterbalanced the sweet but that would not go sour. Layer Cake wine tends to be very strong and thick and flavorful. It really is the best choice. The Layer Cake Malbec is one of my favorites and it’s truly a treat of a wine. And even though I had plenty to drink last night, there is a lot of left over wine. So I am drinking it. I refuse to let it go to waste.

The Reality:

Layer Cake smells delicious of course. There are notes of blackberry and rich, ripe strawberries. The smell alone makes my mouth water. A sip coats your mouth with tart fruit flavors. The blackberry comes in very nicely  and the taste rests in your mouth delightfully.

The candy corn is well, typical candy corn. Sweet and thick with an unspeakable appeal. After a few bites of candy corn the wine stays smooth but its distinct sharpness fades. It almost tickles on the way down and becomes far more sweet than I would like. It tastes a bit cheap really. But overally the flavors remain even if they are not that strong.

This pairing is fine. You certainly wouldn’t be amiss to try it. The wine stays good, even if it loses some of its distinct charm. However, this is for the best when considering candy corn. A candy corn and wine stomach ache probably would be the worst thing in the world. Maybe a perfect candy pairing would be far worse than good for the intestines. I’m just trying to look out for you readers.

Friends please enjoy our Halloween season safely and responsibly. And please enjoy the following links about candy corn.

Related articles

• Sweet or Scary? This Season’s Hot Flavor Is… Candy Corn (moneyland.time.com)
• 11 Foods Inspired by Candy Corn (mentalfloss.com)
• Candy Corn Milkshake Recipe (dinosdiscoveries.com)
• What We’re Sweet On: Lips Like Candy (Corn) (bellasugar.com)