ChocolateBet: July 16, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1/2 bar
chocri
Red Fruits and Flowers - Milk Chocolate Bar
Very Good
Weight: 1.75 oz. (50 g.) in 1/2 bar (estimate)
Calories: 262 calories (estimate)
Cost: $8.90 (approximate)
Purchased from: chocri

Today, I am writing once again about chocolate (from chocri) that I custom built and ordered. 
Today's milk chocolate bar was topped with a colorful blend of red fruit and flowers. Apparently, when ordering this bar, I didn't take time to give it the creative name it deserved. The label (with the name I chose) read: "Red Fruits and Flowers Milk Chocolate Bar." Given that chocri allows customers to name their own bars that they create, I should have dubbed this the "Red Sassy" or "The Red Nature Bar," or, even more simply: "Red." If anyone wants to suggest alternative names for this bar, let me know. Below is a list of the ingredients:
1.) Milk Chocolate (32%)
2.) Raspberry
3.) Strawberry
4.) Papaya Cubes
5.) Candied Rose Petals
6.) Flower Mix

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: July 14, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pieces
Sweet's
Cabernet Flavored Dark Chocolate Wine Gels
Good - Good +
Weight: .59 oz. (16.8 g.) / (3.5 oz. (100 g.) in total package
Calories: 64 calories in 2 pieces
Cost: $3.99 (plus any other charges if ordered online)
Purchased from: Sweet's

"Life is a caber(n)et my friend, life is a caber(n)et!" OK, I had to get that pun (loosely based on a song from the musical "Cabaret") out of my system. Not funny, you say? Ahem, let us proceed.

Today was Day #6 of Chocolate and Wine Theme Week, and I tried Sweet's (gluten-free) Cabernet flavored wine gels. Like the Sweet's Port wine gels I tried yesterday, there was an alcohol-related flavor I didn't particularly care for. Yesterday, I was thinking this might have been due to my eating a product that was slightly past its due date. But, this same (artificial, alcohol-like?) flavor was still detectable in this newer batch of wine gels. These gels do contain both natural and artificial flavors (and an ingredient listed as "Red Wine Reduction"). It would be great if this flavor could be toned down just a bit.

ChocolateBet: July 13, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
2 pieces
Sweet Candy Co/Sweet's
Good - Good +
Weight: .59 oz. (16.8 g.)/ 3.5 oz. (100 g.) total package
Calories: 64 calories
Cost: $5.00
Purchased from: ?

Today (Day #5 of Chocolate and Wine Theme Week) I tried a new variation on the combination of chocolate and port. Sweet's (gluten-free) dark chocolate covered Wine Gels contained a port wine reduction -- and both natural and artificial flavors. I ate these a bit past the expiration date, and there was an alcohol-like flavor I didn't care for that much. I look forward to trying Sweet's Cabernet flavored Wine Gels tomorrow.

ChocolateBet: July 12, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
1 truffle
Wine Country Chocolates
Champagne (truffle)
Very Good
Weight: .45 oz. (12.7 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 67 calories (estimate)
Cost: $
Purchased from: Wine Country Chocolates, Sonoma tasting room, Sonoma, CA

Today (Day #4 of Chocolate and Wine Theme Week) I enjoyed a Champagne truffle --  the last piece in a Wine Country Chocolates 7-piece black, round assortment box. I liked that I could taste a bit more of the wine/grape (champagne) flavor in this truffle, compared to the red wine flavored truffles I tasted earlier this week. It can be tough to rate similar truffles. So much goes into the perception of taste. Factors include temperature and age of a chocolate; time of day an item was eaten; or the taster's level of hunger and/or thirst -- to name a few.

ChocolateBet: July 11, 2010

Chocolate of the Day:
2 truffles
Wine Country Chocolates
Port Truffles
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .9 oz. (25.4 g.) (estimate) for 2 truffles
Calories: 134 calories (estimate) for 2 truffles
Cost: $
Purchased from: Wine Country Chocolates, tasting room in Sonoma, CA

Today, Day #3 of Chocolate and Wine Theme Week, I selected a Port truffle from the assortment of chocolate truffles I purchased recently from Wine Country Chocolates in Sonoma. My only quibble with these chocolates is that the differences between the zinfandel, cabernet and port truffle flavors were difficult to detect when I tried them.

ChocolateBet: July 10, 2010

Chocolate(s) of the Day:

1. Wine Country Chocolates - 1 piece
Cabernet Sauvignon truffle
Good + - Very Good
Weight: .45 oz. (12.7 g.) (estimate)
Calories: 67 calories (estimate)
Cost: $
Purchased from: Wine Country Chocolates, Sonoma tasting room, CA

Today was Day #2 of Chocolate and Wine Theme Week. I continued to work on my Wine Country Chocolates assortment box purchased recently from the company's Sonoma tasting room. Today I enjoyed their Cabernet Sauvignon truffle.


2.) Schellville Grill - 1 piece
Flourless Chocolate Cake
Very Good
Weight: 4 oz. (estimate)
Calories: 400 calories (estimate)
Cost: $7.50
Purchased from: The Schellville Grill, in Schellville, CA (Sonoma area)

After doing some walking, sightseeing and light wine tasting, I was able to try dinner at the Schellville Grill -- in the heart of Sonoma, CA, wine country. (This restaurant serves dinner Thurs, Friday and Saturday.) And I was happy to discover that some of the "Desserts by Emily" there were flourless chocolate cakes. I believe what I had was a "plain" (although it was fairly exceptional) chocolate cake, as opposed to Emily's other flourless chocolate variations that include fruit/berries or wine.