I am making up a gift basket with dessert chocolates and chocolate filled cookies and cakes. I am including a premium roast bag of coffee. What types and / or brands of dessert wines or cordials would you suggest?

Eeew, asti spumante is tooo sweet and too grapey, it would cover up the taste of chocolate. If you are going for that, why not just go for champagne???? Moet Star is a reasonably priced one.

I am not a big fan of beer with dessert, either.

If you are going for something heavier, why not the classic….brandy or cognac??? Remy Martin Red I think is the more reasonably priced one but I am not sure about that. All are fine, cognacs are well controlled. If it has the title "cognac," you can rest assured that it comes from the Cognac region of France, and its quality controlled.

Oakiness is the charm of cognac. However, if you find cognac a bit too oakey (I usually do…) ….then go for brandy or a fine bourbon, instead.

A delicious and reasonably priced brandy is a German one called Asbach Uralt. If you go to Switzerland, you will find Lindt chocolates filled with cognac. If you go to Germany, you will find chocolates filled with Asbach brandy.

My favorite bourbon is called Blanton’s, but there are many good ones, like Maker’s Mark.

Try some of these taste combinations yourself!!