Wine and Birthday Cake Pairings

Colorful birthday cake and half-full wine glasses containing rose.

When doing wine pairings, conventional wisdom suggests matching the wine to the most prominent element of the dish. In most foods, this could be the seasonings, sauce, or the main ingredient. In the world of cake pairing, the question is: what is the dominant flavor, the cake, frosting, or filling?

Pair rich desserts, such as chocolate or cheesecake, with bold reds or dessert wines, and lighter cakes with refreshing whites or sparkling options. Balance is key—complement flavors, don’t compete with them.

The wines suggested below are all produced by alumni-owned wineries. 

You can also find non-alcoholic options (not available in the Columbia Alumni Wine Industry Network's Virtual Wine Cellar) paired below.

Chocolate Layer Cake 

  • CVNE Imperial Reserva (Victor Urrutia Ybarra ’01BUS)
  • Tres Sabores Por Que No (Julie Johnson ’79NRS)
  • Noughty Rose (Non-Alcoholic)


Chocolate Fudge Cake

  •  Fogline Old Vine Syrah (Brent Bessire ’91CC)
  • The Messenger (Greg Ahn ’05BUS)
  • Le Petit Chavin Merlot (Non-Alcoholic)
     

Devil’s Food Cake

  • Salcheto Nobile (Ron Prashker ’04BUS)
  • Chateau de Mille St, Celestine (Lawrence Slaughter ’84CC)
  • Princess Rosso Dry (Non-Alcoholic)
     

Red Velvet Cake

  • Fogline Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir (Brent Bessire ’91CC)
  • Banfi Moscato d'Asti  Sciandor (Cristina Mariana May ’99BUS)
  • Leitz Zero Point Pinot Noir (Non-Alcoholic)
     

Strawberry Shortcake

  • Cannonball Sauvignon Blanc (Yoav Gilat ’06BUS)
  • Alit Willamette Valley Pinot Noir (Mark Tarlov ’77LAW)
  • Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Bla (Non-Alcoholic)
     

Carrot Cake 

  • Chateau de Mille Rose (Lawrence Slaughter ’84CC)
  • Obvious Bianco (Ron Prashker ’04BUS)
  • St. Agrestic Phony Negroni (Non-Alcoholic)
     

Vanilla Pound Cake

  • Folktale Chardonnay (Greg Ahn ’05BUS)
  • Domaine de Faiveley Mercurey (Erwan Faiveley ’15BUS)
  • Leitz Eins Zwei Zero Chardonnay (Non-Alcoholic)
     

Tiramisu Cake

  • Altaneve Prosecco Bianco (David Noto ’10BUS)
  • Flying Goat Bubbles Cremant (Kate Griffith ’84SIPA)
  • ISH Sparkling Rose (Non-Alcoholic)  
     

 Cannoli Cake

  • Banfi Rosa Regale Brachetto d’Aqui (Cristina Mariana May ’99BUS)
  • Folktale Sparkling Rose (Greg Ahn ’05BUS)
  • Oddbird Blanc de Blanc Sparkling (Non-Alcoholic)
     

Dark Chocolate Torte

  • Chene Bleu Rose (Xavier Rolet ’84BUS)
  • Chateau de Mille St. Lucide (Lawrence Slaughter ’84CC)
  • Oddbird GSM Red (Non-Alcoholic)
      

Gingerbread Cake

  • Fogline Rockpile Zinfandel (Brent Bessire ’91CC)
  • Tres Sabores Estate Zinfandel (Julie Johnson ’79NRS)
  • Gnista Italian Not Wine (Non-Alcoholic)