Anita LaRaia's Wine & Chocolate class March 20, 2009 at Marietta Wine Market, Marietta, GA.  (All of the chocolate brands were purchased at Cost Plus World Market in Dunwoody, GA.)

The first to worship chocolate were the Mayas of Mexico.  Our modern addiction to dark chocolates is due to their high levels of the "mood elevator" theobromine (meaning a gift from God), and the health benefits from their high levels of anti-oxidants.  White chocolate has no cocoa or cacao (cacao is the proper term as I'll explain) and is not really chocolate; Milk chocolate has more dairy & sugar and less cacao. 

Dark chocolates have the highest percentage of pure cacao from the cacao trees grown in tropic zones of South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Australia and Hawaii.  The cacao beans are roasted and sent to Europe for processing into fine French, Belgium, German, Swiss, Spanish & Italian chocolates.  Now some American companies, such as Vosges, produce exotic chocolates in the U.S.

Voted the three best combination by the group were: 

Ghost Pines--Cabernet Sauvignon--Napa/Sonoma Counties, California--2006--$19 with Valor--"Forest Fruits"--70% (Cacao) Dark Chocolate--Spain--$2.99 per bar.   The delicious fruit concentration and berry flavors of this dry red wine made a wonderful marriage with the dried raspberries and blackberries in this incomparable dark chocolate from Spain.  Ghost Pines winery is owned by the Louis P. Martini family of Napa Valley, California wine pioneers.

Terrazas--Malbec--Mendoza, Argentina--2007--$11 with Vosges--"Red Fire"--Ancho/Chipotle Chillies & Cinnamon--55% Cacao Dark Chocolate--$7 per bar.  Vosges chocolate company based in Chicago is onwned by young American woman who makes the best "exotics", i.e. chocolates with rare ingredients added such as Ceylon Cinnamon and Mexican chillies, to make their chocolate bars more wine-friendly.  Go to www.vosges.com for many interesting chocolate and wine pairings.  This combination of dark chocolate with the warm spice of chili peppers was absolutely divine--and wonderful with a Latin Lover wine such as Malbec from Argentina or Carmenere from Chile or Tempranillo, Garnacha, or Monastrell from Spain.

Australia Tawny Port with Scharffen Berger--Milk Chocolate with Cacao Nibs--$4 per bar.  The roasted Cacao "Nibs" give crunch and intensify the chocolate flavor, while adding a nutty taste profile.  This excellent 41% Cacao Milk Chocolate was very creamy and just sweet enough to partner an Australian Tawny Port.

We also tasted California wine country dark chocolates with Lava Cap--Zinfandel--El Dorado, California--2005--$19 and an Australia Shiraz with bittersweet Michel Cluizel "Grand Noir"--85% Cacao Dark Chocolate--$5 per bar.

Now it's time for you to indulge!  ALL