Vine to Bar - Chocolate Covered Almonds with Chardonnay Marc, Himalayan Pink Salt - June 4, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Vine To Bar
Chocolate Covered Almonds with Chardonnay Marc, Himalayan Pink Salt
Good ++ 
Weight: 2 oz. (56.6 g.) / 4 oz. (113 g.) in total package 
Calories: 340 calories in 1/2 package
Cost: $10.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: The Market at Edgewood, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #10 of Chocolate and Fruit Theme Week, featuring chocolates with several different fruits, including cherry, cranberry, marionberry, blueberry, strawberry, orange, lime, and now...Chardonnay (grape) Marc.*

Today's Chocolate Covered Almonds were manufactured for: Vine to Bar (Healdsburg, CA).

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate and subtle fruit (peach, lemon, white grape and cacao fruit) and nut notes.

Texture and flavor notes included: crunchy almonds surrounded by rich, smooth and sweet (65% cacao) dark chocolate with faint fruit/fruit cookie notes. 

The diffuse fruit notes added subtle flavor depth. The judicious touch of Himalayan Pink Salt was appealing; and it helped balance and complement the sweetness, and also tipped this snack into the addictive chocolate zone.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate (Unsweetened Chocolate, Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Soy Lecithin, Natural Flavors), Roasted Almonds, Wellvine (TM) Chardonnay Marc, Himalayan Pink Salt.

Allergen-related information: "Contains: Soy, Almond. May Contain: Tree Nuts, Peanut, Wheat, Milk, and Nut Shell Fragments."

* Chardonnay Marc is a byproduct (or "co-product") of the Chardonnay juice extraction process in winemaking. The marc, also known as pomace, may include grape skins, seeds and stems--and is often discarded or used as compost. Vine to Bar founders were interested in sustainability and upcycling the marc.

Vine to Bar chocolates contain Wellvine--a substance that incorporates their Chardonnay by-product-with-benefits (including dietary fiber and polyphenols/flavonols). Cacao and dark chocolate contain fairly high levels of beneficial antioxidants; and adding a few more in fruit form might be even better.

The USDA and the University of California at Davis were consulted/ involved in researching this product. UC Davis researchers helped confirm potential bioactive compounds and health benefits.

Puna Chocolate Company - Honey Wine Berry 70% Dark Chocolate Bar - Jan. 21, 2024

Chocolate of the Day

Puna Chocolate Company
Honey Wine Berry 70% Dark Chocolate (bar) 
Good ++ 
Weight: 1.06 oz. (30 g.) in total bar
Calories: 170 calories in 1 bar
Cost: $5.95 for 1 bar + shipping
Purchased from Puna Chocolate, online order

Aloha, and welcome to Day #21 of Chocolate and Hawaii Theme Week(s). 

Today's Honey Wine Berry 70% Dark Chocolate Bar was created by Puna Chocolate Company (Kailua-Kona, HI). The company uses Hawaiian chocolate and coffee to craft their bars and beverages.

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate; and sweet berry jam (red raspberry, strawberry and light goji berry).

Texture: well-tempered dark chocolate broke with a snap; red raspberry pieces (including tiny crunchy seeds) added texture as well as bright fruit flavor. There was a slight fruit/wine astringency in the finish.

Flavor notes included: relatively bold, but smooth, dark chocolate; fruity (red wine grape); tart sweet red raspberry fruit jam; and brief flickers of red grape juice and red floral (hibiscus tea with honey). I did not detect any residual alcohol from the wine. 

What I liked about this bar: the blend of satisfying, authentic and harmonious Hawaiian chocolate, fruit and wine flavors; bold but balanced, tart sweet berry and dark earthy fudge brownie flavors.

Maker's Tasting Notes/Description: "...berries are soaked and marinated in the legendary Volcano Winery's fine wine and then dried and pressed into rich Puna-grown Chocolate..." (Hawaii Wine and Chocolate.)..."Together at last!"

Ingredients: Hawaiian Cacao Beans, Organic Cane Sugar, Cocoa Butter, Raspberries, Honey, "Red Wine. Wine Alcohol and Sulfates...Removed by Evaporation."

Allergen-related information:  Manufactured in a Facility That Also Processes Milk, Peanuts, Tree Nuts

Vine to Bar - Dark Chocolate Chardonnay Marc tasting square - July 9, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Vine to Bar
Chocolate Tasting Squares
Chardonnay Smoked Salt and Cocoa Nibs
Good +
Weight: .777 oz. (22 g.) in 2 squares
Calories: 120 calories in 2 squares
Cost: $2.58 for 2 squares
Purchased from: The Market at Edgewood, Palo Alto, CA

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Salt Theme Week.

Today's Dark Chocolate with Chardonnay Marc chocolate tasting square(s) were from Vine to Bar. (There was no HQ location listed on packaging or website.) 

The chardonnay grape marc* used in the company's chocolates was from "coastal vineyards." The company uses pressed wine grapes that might otherwise get discarded to use in chocolates.

Aroma notes included: naturally sweet dark chocolate, soft, diffuse fruit, and slightly floral botanical (including very faint vanilla-like, sweet green) notes.

The chocolate was fairly smooth, with a very slightly granular texture (likely due to chardonnay grape marc). A light sprinkling of cocoa bean pieces (nibs) added a crunchy element.

The flavor was a blend of very light dark chocolate and soft fruity (grape) notes, with a bit of salt. The flavors were relatively gentle, and well balanced.

I also tasted a few other Vine to Bar flavors, including a "plain" Dark Chocolate flavor. It shared some of the same aroma and flavor notes as those mentioned above. Relatively subtle, sweet flavors. It had slightly more dark chocolate oomph to it, but was otherwise very similar.

Ingredients: Dark chocolate (unsweetened chocolate, sugar, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, natural flavors)

Allergen-related information: May contain tree nuts, peanut, egg, wheat and milk. Vine to Bar Chocolates "contain no alcohol."

*Chardonnay Marc is a by-product of making wine. It's what's left after wine grape juice has been extracted. (According to the company, this by-product represents "up to 10 billion pounds of waste a year.")

The company describes their process to upcycle this marc as follows: "...After experimenting many times over, we transformed this by-product into WellVine (tm) Chardonnay Marc, a new ingredient full of natural sweetness, flavanols, and beneficial nutrients. It is also alcohol free.

This is one of several relatively new "upcycled" chocolates I've tasted that have become popular in recent years. This trend sounds practical and economical. I'm also interested in how these by-products will be monitored (e.g. how they're tested for pesticides and herbicide residues).

Ranger Chocolate Co. - Oregon Wine Country Pinot Noir Chocolate Bar - June 11, 2023

Chocolate of the Day

Ranger Chocolate Co.
Oregon Wine Country Pinot Noir Chocolate Bar
Good ++
Weight: 1.125 oz. (32 g.) / 2.25 oz. (64 g.) in total bar
Calories: 174 calories (estim.) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $16.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order

Welcome to Day #7 of Chocolate and Cheese Theme Week. Wine and cheese pair well. (See below for a suggested cheese pairing with today's bar.)

The Oregon Wine Country Pinot Noir Chocolate Bar from Ranger Chocolate Co. (Portland, OR) was part of the company's Oregon Adventure Series.

Aroma notes included: dark chocolate (faint sweet green, light caramel spice) and balanced, bright fruit (purple grape).

This well-tempered bar broke with a snap and had the taste and feel of a thoughtfully made dark chocolate. (It took "500 hours to make this chocolate..." and it shows.) 

Tasting notes: deep, dark fudge-y chocolate; bright, tart-sweet red/purple wine grape fruit (with faint raisin and fig); and light spice and sweet floral green notes in the finish. There was a very faint, fleeting fruit astringency in the finish; but otherwise it was very smooth.

The dark chocolate was robust but smooth; and the pinot noir added fullness and fruit. The two tasted fully integrated and harmonized very nicely.

I enjoyed this chocolate with a small slice of manchego (Spanish sheep) cheese. I'd recommend this pairing.

Maker's description: "This bar infuses Adelsheim Vineyard's annual Pinot noir harvest directly into our chocolate making process--a wine and chocolate pairing like never before."

Ingredients: "organic cacao, organic sugar, cacao butter, Pinot noir grape, sea salt" 

Allergen-related information: "Manufactured in a facility that uses gluten, egg, milk, tree nuts ingredients." ("Vegan, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Nut Free")

Ritual Chocolate - The Apres Chocolate w/ Sparkling White Wine infused chocolate, raspberries (bar) - Dec. 29, 2022

Chocolate(s) of the Day

Ritual Chocolate
The Apres Chocolate - Sparkling White Wine Infused Chocolate with Dried Raspberries 70% Cacao (bar)
Good + - Good ++
Weight: .706 oz. (20 g.) / 2.12 oz. (60 g.) in total bar
Calories: 100 calories in 1/3 bar
Cost: $12.00 for 1 bar
Purchased from: Bar and Cocoa, online order 

Welcome to Day #9 of Chocolate and Spirits Theme Week. 

This sparkling white wine infused chocolate was the second of two 70% dark chocolate bars featured today--each with its own "spirited" magic. (See previous post to read about Auro Chocolate's Don Papa Rum Infused 70% bar from the Philippines.)

Today's "The Apres Chocolate" - Sparkling White Wine Infused Chocolate with Dried Raspberries 70% Cacao (bar) was from Ritual Chocolate (Heber City, UT).

Aroma notes for this dark chocolate bar included: tart, sweet red raspberry and dark chocolate, very faint white wine, faint angel food cake, warm spice (barely detectable/inferred star anise), and a trace of butter cookies with confectioners sugar and raspberry jam centers.

Flavor notes for this relatively creamy, festive chocolate included dark chocolate (chocolate ganache, faint brownie), flickers of fresh red raspberry, and very faint white wine.

Maker's tasting notes: Champagne and Raspberries

Ingredients: Cacao, organic cane sugar, organic cocoa butter, freeze-dried raspberries, sparkling white wine.

Allergen-related information: May contain traces of peanuts, tree nuts, and wheat

Brookside Dark Chocolate Vineyard Inspired Merlot Grape, Black Currant (pieces) - May 23, 2021

Chocolate of the Day

Brookside Chocolate
(Distributed by The Hershey Company)
Dark Chocolate Vineyard Inspired Merlot Grape and Black Currant Flavors 
Good 
Weight: 1.4 oz. (40 g.) / 6 oz. (170 g.) in total package
Calories: 170 calories in 1 serving (16 pieces)
Cost: missing information
Purchased from: missing information 

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and VWXYZ Theme Week, featuring chocolate items that have origins and/or flavor inclusions that start with the letters V, W, X, Y and Z.

Today's Brookside Dark Chocolate Vineyard Inspired Merlot Grape and Black Currant Flavors (pieces) were distributed by The Hershey Company (Hershey, PA).

The grapes in today's wine grape and fruit flavored chocolates were part of a festive, sweet sangria-colored, fruit punch filling, with vineyard roots. (It was great to see wine grapes featured in something other than wine.*) The "velvety" fruit center had a soft gummy chew, and was enveloped in dark chocolate and confectioner's glaze.

The blend of merlot grape and other juice concentrates, plus a hint of vanilla in the dark chocolate, resulted in a tart-sweet brightness, natural fruit colors, and a sugary warmth.

Ingredients: Dark Chocolate [sugar; chocolate; cocoa butter; milk fat; cocoa processed with alkali; lecithin (soy); milk; salt; natural vanilla flavor]; sugar; deionized apple juice concentrate; corn syrup; fruit juice concentrate [merlot grape juice concentrate; cranberry juice concentrate; black currant juice concentrate; lemon juice concentrate]; maltodextrin; natural flavor; pectin; malic acid; confectioner's glaze; canola oil; sodium citrate; baking soda; dextrose; citric acid; ascorbic acid.

Allergen-related information: "Gluten free; No artificial flavors; No artificial colors." "Manufactured on the same equipment that processes almonds."

*Wine table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice are almost as rare as cacao fruit/pulp and non-alcoholic cacao juice. However, these fruits can be delicious on their own if you ever have the chance to try them. 

Goodio Craft Chocolate - Winter Glow - Dec. 31, 2019

Chocolate of the Day: 

Goodio Craft Chocolate
Winter Glow 49% Chocolate Topped with Mulled Wine Crystals (bar)
Good
Weight: .85 oz. (24 g.) / 1.7 oz. (48 g.) in 1/2 bar
Calories: 117 calories (per label) in 1/2 bar
Cost: $ missing information
Purchased from: missing information

Welcome to Day #10 of Holiday Tea and Spirits Theme Week.

Today's Winter Glow Chocolate Topped with Mulled Wine Crystals 49% Cacao (bar) was manufactured by Helsinki Heaven Ltd for Goodio Craft Chocolate, from bean-to-bar, in Helsinki, Finland.

The Finns know more about winter than most of us around the globe do. And gathering in the dark months to enjoy some hot, sweet, mulled wine is a Scandinavian tradition. Goodio shares that tradition with us with this vegan, sweet chocolate bar that was lightly spiced* and had opaque magenta-colored mulled wine crystals on one side—giving it a faint but pleasant sweet red fruit (red grape, berry) flavor.

*Ingredients: Organic cacao beans, organic coconut palm sugar, organic cacao butter, organic coconut flakes, birch sugar, organic cinnamon, organic cardamom, bitter orange peel, organic cranberry powder, organic ginger, organic carnation.

Lula's Chocolates - Wine Truffles - Mar. 15, 2017

Chocolate of the Day: 

Lula Lund's Chocolates, LLC
Lula's Chocolates - Wine Truffles
Good
Weight: 1.1 oz. (31 g.) / 2.2 oz. (62 g.) in total box of 4 pieces
Calories: 165 calories (estimate) in 2 pieces
Cost: $10.99 (estimate) for 1 box of 4 pieces/truffles
Purchased from: Lula's (shop), Monterey, CA

Welcome to Day #5 of Chocolate and STUVWXYZ Theme Week, the last in our chocolate alphabet series.

Today "w" stands for wine. With the proper pairing, wine and chocolate can make wonderful tasting companions. Or, one can infused chocolates with wine flavor, like today's Wine Truffles from Lula's Chocolates (Monterey, CA).

These attractively packaged box of four good-sized chocolates were made with pure dairy cream and "wine and natural flavorings."

The company's full name is Lula Lund's Chocolates, LLC.
Lula's founder and owner, Scott Lund, named the company after his grandmother Lula, who also made confections and toffees.

If you're visiting in the Monterey or Carmel area in California, Lula's shops are worth a stop. (Their Baja toffee is a great take a traditional toffee; it's spicy enough to be flavorful without being too hot.)

Moonstruck - Vintage Merlot, Pink Champagne chocolates - Feb. 13, 2015

Chocolate(s) of the Day: 

Moonstruck Chocolate Co.

Vintage Merlot Sea Salt Caramel (milk)
Good
Weight: .475 oz. (13.5 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: $2.50 for 1 piece

Pink Champagne Heart Truffle
Good
Weight: .475 oz. (13.5 g.) (estimate) for 1 piece
Calories: 75 calories (estimate) for 1 piece
Cost: $2.50 for 1 piece

Today was Day #5 of Valentines Chocolates Week.

Happy Valentines Day Eve all. These two sweetheart chocolates were made by Moonstruck Chocolate Co. (Portland, OR).

The Vintage Merlot Sea Salt Caramel was topped with a generous sprinkle of wine-colored sea salt crystals. Inside the gem encrusted milk chocolate covering was a soft, chewy caramel filling, creating an attractive blend of flavors and textures.

Not every chocolate confection needs to be dark and mysterious. Moonstruck's Pink Champagne Truffle was a pretty little thing, with a speckled, pale pink, heart-shaped shell. Inside was a bright layering of flavors -- white chocolate and then a burst of raspberry flavor.

WholeVine - Chocolate Chip Cookies - January 27, 2013

Chocolate of the Day: 

WholeVine Products
1.) Chocolate Chip Cookies
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) in total package
Calories: 110 calories in 1 cookie
Cost: $7.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Paradise Foods, Corte Madera, CA

2.) 2-Chocolates Chip Cookies
Good
Weight: 1 oz. (28 g.) / 8 oz. (227 g.) in total package
Calories: 120 calories in 1 cookie
Cost: $7.99 for 1 package
Purchased from: Paradise Foods, Corte Madera, CA

Today was Day #4 of Chocolate and Gluten Free Cookie Theme Week.

When baking with gluten free flours, applesauce, mashed banana, pumpkin, jam with pectin, or xanthan gum, can help approximate the texture of conventionally baked cookies, and help bind ingredients together.

Today's Chocolate Chip, and 2-Chocolates Chip (chocolate and white chocolate chips), "Sonoma Style" Cookies from WholeVine Products (Santa Rosa, CA) incorporated applesauce and xanthan gum in their gluten free cookies.

However, what made these cookies special was the addition of Sauvignon Blanc grape seed, and grade seed skin flours. (The company also uses other varietal grapes.) According to the company -- based in Sonoma County, home of many fine wineries -- the unique, grape-based flours came from sustainably farmed coastal vineyards, via sister company Jackson Family Wines.

At the time of this writing, WholeVine made at least four different gluten free cookies. I previously featured their Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies. Of the two I tried today, may favorite flavor was the Chocolate Chip (one without white chocolate chips), winner of a Sonoma County Harvest Fair Gold Medal. (Other flavors include Oatmeal Currant and Peanut Butter.)

Hats off to creative use of vineyard ingredients that add fiber and some nutritional value to baked goods like this.

ChocolateBet: July 15, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 serving
Anette's Chocolates
Testarossa Winery - Pinot Noir Chocolate Sauce
(over vanilla ice cream)
Good +
Weight: 1 oz. (28.3 g.) / 9 fl. oz. (266 mL) in total jar
Calories: 70 calories (estimate) + calories in ice cream
Cost: N/A - gift
Purchased from: N/A - gift; thank you Alex

I enjoy pairing certain chocolates with certain wines -- as side-by-side pairings, more often than literal mixtures of the two. But that hasn't stopped me from trying different combinations that are available. Today's choice was a sauce that combined chocolate with Testarossa Winery Pinot Noir (red wine).

It must be challenging to balance the nuances of two substances like wine and chocolate -- when each of these by themselves have quite a bit of complexity. Today's Pinot Noir chocolate sauce was nice, and I liked it more than the vanilla ice cream I chose to eat with the sauce.  The label on the jar suggested that this Pinot Noir Chocolate Sauce might also be good with pound cake, strawberries, and other dessert items.

Today concluded Day #7 of Chocolate and Wine Theme Week.

ChocolateBet: June 5, 2007

Chocolate of the Day:

1/2 bar
E. Guittard
Sur Del Lago Bittersweet (Venezuela) - single origin choc
1 oz. serving - 1/2 bar (2 oz. bar total)
Good - Very Good
basic dark chocolate
145 calories for 1 serving or 1/2 bar
65% cacao
$?
Purchased at: Easy Foods Market, in Mountain View, CA

There is lots of language describing these single origins (chocolates) like a fine wine.

For example: "Complex chocolate flavors underlie subtle hints of red berry fruit. Cacao beans used to make this chocolate were harvested from trees of Criollo and Trinitario heritage in Venezuela's Sur del Lago region."

Also..."Each E. Guittard single origin chocolate is carefully crafted to showcase the unique flavors of the region and the ancient cacao tree type from which it came. We refer to them as our 'sipping chocolates' and savor them as one savors a fine wine."

When each bean or grape has a story behind it, people are probably also willing to pay more for the end product.