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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Valrhona Chocolate and Port Wine at Finale



If you aren't salivating after simply reading the title of this post, I may have to question your humanity.

Recently, I was invited to attend a spectacular chocolate and wine tasting at Finale Desserterie in Boston. The evening was full of sweetly intricate flavors and brilliant pairings that had my taste buds all sorts of excited. Executive Pastry Chef, Nicole Coady (that's her in the photo with me above), was a wonderful host and led us on a delicious journey of French Valrhona chocolates and an array of port wines. We tasted everything from white chocolate mousse with a light Croft Pink, to dark chocolate whoopie pies with a heavier Graham's "Six Grapes" Reserve Porto. As an admitted chocoholic, I was in heaven. I was amazed by how much of a difference pairing the chocolates with each wine made in how much I enjoyed each sample. Some wines tasted too bitter and syrupy when tasted alone, but when paired with a piece of premium Valrhona Guanaja, I couldn't get enough!

Thanks again to Chef Nicole for preparing such an exquisite array of chocolate desserts for our enjoyment that evening! I even talked her into shooting me an email the next time she plans on experimenting with new menu items, so you're looking at the new Finale taste-tester (woohoo!)

After experiencing the superb service and delicious treats at this Finale event, I was psyched to be invited to an Ice Wine Tasting at Finale later this month, so stand by for mouth-watering commentary from that event in the next few weeks.

Until then, feel free to join me in daydreaming about visiting Tain-l'Hermitage in Hermitage, a small French town that Valrhona, one of the foremost chocolate makers in the world, calls home. *Sigh* Someday...

*While I did receive this complimentary tasting from Finale, these opinions are honest and entirely my own.

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