Few foods and beverages evoke such passionate devotion as chocolate and wine. Chocoholics flock to high-end grocery stores for shelves full of high-percentage cacao bars, while nearby wine racks draw oenophiles to discuss aromas, fruity notes and critic ratings. Plenty of foods have their fans, but is there a word in the English language for someone who really likes mac ’n’ cheese? Don’t think so.

It was only a matter of time, then, before someone found a way to put chocolate and wine together. Actually, Total Wine carries three brands of what’s known as “chocolate wine.” How Now Brown Cow’s version ($8.99) is a creamy, cloudy concoction that more resembles alcoholic chocolate milk than anything you’d sample at a Napa vineyard. Sweet and heavy on the cocoa, it would be well sampled in place of dessert or paired with an after-dinner treat. The same goes for ChocoVine’s selection of wines ($8.99), which come in raspberry, espresso and regular chocolate flavors. Made with “the taste of Dutch chocolate and fine red wine,” ChocoVine claims “the right chocolate paired with the perfect wine can create a near-orgasmic taste experience.” Do it wrong, the company says, and you’ll create a horror. Their wines might be best placed somewhere in between. Rich with a strong alcoholic kick, ChocoVine sips like a liqueur and would go well in an espresso martini or added to your favorite dessert cocktail. As for orgasm-inducing … not quite. Finally, Red Decadence’s Chocolatier ($9.99) wine takes things in a different direction—wine first, chocolate second. The only one of the three that actually looks like red wine, Chocolatier smells intensely like chocolate, but tastes like Cabernet, with the cocoa flavor hitting you at the end. It’s almost like chasing a glass of red wine with a square of dark chocolate—all in one sensuous sip.

ChocoVine cocktails:

Mon Cheri

Ingredients:

2 oz. ChocoVine

1 1/4 oz. Vanilla vodka

1/4 oz. Cherry liqueur

Combine and serve in a chilled martini glass.

Decadent

Ingredients:

1 1/2 oz. ChocoVine

1 1/4 oz. Chocolate vodka

1/2 oz. Kahlua

Combine and serve in a chilled martini glass.