Time for tonight's "Wine and Chocolate!"

Mitch at Perugino sold me a bottle of Lambrusco Rosa, a bright red, best served chilled(not cold) with enough sparkle to warrant a punt and a wired cork. I matched it with three very different chocolates from Fenton& Lee.
All foil wrapped, the first was the espresso(copper foil): Loved the taste of the chocolate but the wine was just not a match. I think this would be better with a cleaner, dryer champagne.
The second was Tanzanian 75% cacao(peach foil); This one stood up very well to the wine and as it melted in my mouth, a sip of the cool wine blended with the rich taste and the result was very appealing. Not, I am sure, to all tastes but I will serve this as a treat for a small party without hesitation.
The last, and most surprising, was the Dark. Wrapped in red foil and so rich you could smell it as the foil came off, this one made the wine luscious and wonderful! Melted slowly in my mouth and met the wine with a welcoming smoothness. The taste of the two was almost to much. The wine is sweet but not cloying; fruity and pleasant without being "desert wine" so the dark chocolate was a good foil. The contrapuntal effect had may taste buds happily confused.
I recommend a visit to the Fenton & Lee shop for a few daring pairings of your own. Try some and let me know what combination you fancy.

Pairing Chocolate with Wines.

When I was a boy, chocolate was a treat you received for doing something right, or that you saved for and rewarded yourself for the effort. Biting in to it was, by its self, a glorious experience! Now, as I have moved beyond the Snickers or Mars Bar phase of life, I crave a deeper, more meaningful relationship with my dark habit.
Fenton and Lee, located at 35 East 8th Ave. in the Gallery District, has an amazing selection of fine chocolate to pair with your favorite wines.
This weeks pairing:
Chile Chocolate has the rich front end taste of dark chocolate that holds up well to a Sarah, Malbec, or even some of the more intense Cabs. Spicy Zinfandel brings out the chocolate’s surprising nuances. The tastes play off each other as the chocolate brings out the spice in the wine and the wine mellows and softens the intensity of the dark peppery chocolate.The back pallet taste is hot/sweet and lingers long enough to add to and compliment the aftertaste of the wine . Delightful!
I plan to surprise friends with this one after dinner this weekend

Wines of Lane County

We just opened a bottle 2005 Pfeiffer Blue Dot Pinot Noir. My God what a wine! Soft and complex, with berry and plum, balanced acid and with a richness not seen in many Pinots. I think the 2006 is as good and I barrel tasted the 07 last week with Robin...big things await!

We also enjoy Benton Lane Pinot Noir, a very different wine, much lighter and still complex. The 04 with 90 points was one of the top 100 wines in Wine Spectator who said this about the 06 with 92 points: Lithe and refreshing, with a lovely blueberry note at the center, offering graceful hints of plum and delicate spices as the finish rolls on. Distinctive and welcoming, this should develop well.
Drink now through 2015. 667 cases made.
—Harvey Steiman, 10/12/07