Chocolate and Wine Pairing

Hello again my fine chocolate friends.

My husband is the best. 

He found a new chocolate for me and it came paired with red wine.  

Does it get better than this? 

Hachez is a German chocolate company who has been making chocolate since 1890 with beans from Equador and Venezuela.  They started making the fine little chocolate leaves that we just tasted in 1923.

What did I think? 

The little 77%  Cocoa d’Arriba leaves were just up my alley.  The key words here are bitter (in a good way), ultra smooth texture, and licorice.   

Licorice?  Just keep reading…

About the chocolate.  At first I thought I could taste a little strawberry flavor then a nice bitter finish, which is something that I really enjoy.  

Incredibly long lasting finish for such a small chocolate leaf.  Very satisfying.

Ultrasmooth texture, probably because Hachez grinds the chocolate until a fineness of 0.014 millimeters has been achieved then conch for 72 long hours.

Here comes the big “wow”…

Paired with the excellent wine that the chocolate came packaged with, a 2005 Siegendorf 60% cabernet sauvignon / 40% merlot from Austria, the flavor completely changes to a strong taste of black licorice.   

I know that doesn’t sound pleasant to have chocolate or wine taste like black licorice but please don’t shy away.  Really, this combination actually works very well and produces a “wow” flavor experience too interesting to pass up.  

What a life…taste chocolate, taste wine, taste chocolate and wine together, repeat.

More info on Hachez, their fine chocolates, and their process can be found in this nicely produced video  http://www.hachez.de/english/a-passion-for-chocolate.html