I like the word ‘tasting’ because it reminds me of one of the fun things I did when I worked in catering sales management in the hotel industry. Back then, we really didn’t taste foods ourselves in front of the clients but it was still fun to watch clients try the foods. Well… it was like this event except the only food served is chocolate (fine by me!)… and I was the taster. The person pouring the wines was a wine distributor. His name is Alec and he was friendly and knowledgeable. Exactly the experience I was going for. I could tell he has tried many wines. And I had a roommate once upon a time, who had a similar job and she always brought home wines to taste. She didn’t really like the red ones, so I tried those.

But back to Peche de Chocolat. By the way, their word “peche” has an accent above each “e” which means ’sin’ in French.  So, the full business name’s literal translation is something like ‘Sin of Chocolate’. That’s a different French word than if there’s only one accent above the first “e”. I know that’s confusing and even I pronounced it wrong knowing some French, because I thought it was the word with one accent. You can pretend like you didn’t read this stuff about the pronunciation ’cause I know it’s confusing

Anyway, when I first got in there, the first employee I met was Pierre who gave me his business card…it said he was a Confectioners Manager. I thought that was very interesting. I made a joke that I’m sure that people are much happier that, that’s your title than if you were a Collections Manager (get it? …it rhymes).  He laughed.

And he pointed me to Alec who conducted the tasting and knew the wines he was giving me to try.  Alec first described and then poured the wines. And then he handed over the chocolate . The chocolates came in little chocolate paper candy holders. But here…you can hear and watch what Alec had to say about one of the wine and chocolate pairings I had…it’s the “jammy” tasting Malbec with dark chocolate and fig.

Alec seemed happy that I liked the pairing. Here are the pairings I had:

Domaine de Bernier Chardonnay (France) paired with white chocolate

Willamette Valley Riesling (Oregon) paired with soft milk chocolate and hazelnut

Trinity Oaks Pinot Noir (California) paired with dark chocolate, hazelnuts, croquant rice crisp

Bodega Nortin Malbec (Argentina) paired with dark chocolate, almonds, and dates

They were all excellent and to my liking. Really. Both the wines and chocolates. I really liked all the chocolates even the dark one.  I ended up buying a bottle of the Riesling, Pinot Noir and Malbec.

I’ve got a wine collection for consumption back home so these would go nicely. I like to sometimes have a glass of wine with my meal, but not always. One of my favorites is Hans Lang Pinot Noir which is not one that Peche de Chocolat serves, but just one that I have back home. We have a few bottles from the 2006 vintage. It’s light, has a light red transparent color, and has a clean finish. It has been described as tasting like it has hints of strawberries and raspberries. I like both fruits. …but enough about me.

I really liked the Riesling served at the Tasting. And since the Riesling came from Oregon, I told Alec about my experience of visiting Portland, Oregon and the California Wine Country over a decade ago. It took me back briefly. That was a very memorable vacation and I’d like to go back to visit.

The chocolates melted in my mouth. They come from France, Lebanon, Italy, and Belgium. I like imported gourmet foods and especially sweets.

I also talked to the owner Laura Antonelli who seems to enjoy her business. I don’t blame her one bit!

Watch/listen to her talk about Peche de Chocolat:

And, Peche de Chocolat is located off Glenwood in Glenwood South area before Hillsborough Street. They have a small parking lot that shares spaces with the art galleries that are in the same white building warehouse structure. The lot was full when I went so I had to park nearby. But parking is not usually a problem in Glenwood South as you can find paid or street parking. Everything is kinda a nice short walking distance down there.

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I like chocolate in small quantities.  I’m not a chocaholic though.  I’ve heard of people who go to these spas and get lathered in chocolate.  That’s just kinda weird to me.  Well…maybe it wouldn’t be so strange if someone told me what the experience was really like.  But for now, I think it just sounds over-the-top ’cause I don’t like the smell of chocolate…just the taste…  

I like milk chocolate, and nuts in my chocoloate are okay too. I don’t mind white chocolate but dark chocolate is too bitter for me.  I know people who love dark chocolate but they love chocolate in general. I think it’s an acquired taste. Any thoughts on this?

At the Rocky Mountain store, I will get a few pieces of chocolate when I’m there. I like the bears. They don’t actually look like bears — they look like big clusters of chocolate with whatever is in ‘em. Maybe the name bears came about ’cause they’re fiercely gooood. But maybe they’re actually called bear claws???  They kinda look like those.  Usually the nuts like cashews or almonds give ‘em their shape.  I also like the haystacks that have coconut. I’m not really a big truffle person though. But I do like the chocolate dipped oranges, apricots, pineapple and peaches.  …Can you tell I get a little excited talking about sweets as I tend to ramble?

A little warning.  The chocolate there ain’t cheap chocolate.   If you want to save money, reach for a drugstore candy bar.  Rocky Mountain chocolate and goods behind the case are priced by weight.  Most my selected pieces are usually over a dollar a piece.  I got my three pieces this time and it cost about $5.  So then I liked it even more if ya know what I mean.  But three pieces is usually all I allow myself to bring home.  I know where to get more.

Rocky Mountain makes their own chocolate covered apples. They have all kinds of wild flavors.  Like Avalanche Apple pictured below.  It’s actually a Granny Apple in disguise.  The description, since you can’t read it in the sign is: caramel-apple Granny Apple layered with white confection, peanut butter, chocolate chips drizzled with white confection.  They also have Cheesecake Flavors and many others. They’re like $6.95 each. I think I’d prefer an actual piece of cheesecake. But they’re neat to look at for a sweet tooth like me.

Here’s one of the employees putting the finishing chocolate drizzling touches on the apples. If I worked there I’m certain I would gain a few pounds. She looked unaffected. Not that I knew her but she didn’t seem to have any chocolate fat on her whatsoever.  Good for her.

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