Chocolate and wine … together at last
Posted on Sunday 3rd January 2010
A little more sophisticated than nuts and gum. Despite that, an unusual combination, but it does work.
It may not be common knowledge, but one of our favourite wines is the Rosé made by the Hahndorf Hill Winery. Having ordered from them before Christmas we received a gift with the wine, an introductory offer to partake of the new ChocoVino experience.
They have come up with an interesting concept, that of tasting chocolate in the same manner that one would taste wine. It is also a means of enlightening people to the availability of very fine, niche product not typically available at your local store.
For us, this included tasting the unique Noir Infini, which contains 99% cocoa solids. We expected this to taste very bitter and strong, but instead the fine production techniques and attention has created a very intense yet smooth taste. There are many similarities between the taste of cocoa, coffee and tobacco and we certainly appreciated the earthy, smoky taste with an unusual velvety texture not found in other chocolate.
Interestingly, chocolate radically alters the taste of wine. Most of the wines tasted dry by comparison to the sweetness of chocolate, but the Noir Infini has so little sugar added that it actually brought out the fruit sugar in the Rosé that accompanied it.
These last few posts have certainly had a recurring theme, but the indulgence will have to be tempered from now on. Going back to the gym today certainly was painful.
Hi Rick,
I got brought some 100% cocoa chocolate (Hotel Chocolate), far to strong for my taste, ideal for making shavings on top of a chocolate torte though! I prefer max of 80% that little bit of sugar and coca butter makes all difference…
Happy new year to you both. keep on drinking.