And when you can already easily add rum or whiskey or any other spirit to hot chocolate, what else can red wine really bring to the table?

The first reaction most people had when they heard about this story? A crinkling of noses and the occasional “eww.” It was definitely mine.

The key is to start with a good hot chocolate, said Jacques Torres, a New York pastry chef whose public identity is so fused with chocolate that he is known as “Mr. Chocolate.

“You’re going to use real chocolate,” he said, not cocoa powder, and warm it with milk and a bit of condensed milk for extra silkiness.

“Finished chocolate has all the flavor you want,” he said. “It’s smooth and silky; it doesn’t have any bitterness.”