Gourmet Chocolate Love

Wine and chocolate have a lot in common. Many people enjoy tasting and comparing wines from various vintages and growing regions. Now, chocolate connoisseurs have also discovered the importance of the cocoa bean’s origin and quality, and chocolate tastings that are conducted similarly to wine tastings have gained popularity in recent years.

At Norman Love Confections, we hold chocolate tastings occasionally at the Fort Myers, Florida Chocolate Salon, and we find wine is a perfect complement to our gourmet artisan chocolate creations. However, there is an art to selecting a wine and chocolate pairing. A wine can bring out the flavor notes of a fine gourmet chocolate, or it ruin the flavor by turning it bitter or sour to the taste.

Of course, discovering the combinations you enjoy most is the whole point of this activity. We suggest the following tips to help you begin your adventure in wine and chocolate pairing on your own:

The wine should be as sweet or sweeter than the chocolate served with it to avoid a bitter or sour effect.

1. A light, buttery White Chocolate should typically be paired with lighter, sweeter wines such as Sherry or White Zinfandel.
2. Milk Chocolate is usually excellent with Pinot Noir and lighter bodied Merlots, with chocolate accented desserts and mild milk chocolates better complemented by Rieslings and dessert wines.
3. Robust Dark Chocolates, such as those in Norman Love Confections BLACK™ line, are best paired with a Red Zinfandel, and Tawny or Vintage Port is best for dark chocolate desserts and Truffles.
4. If your tasting includes many different types of chocolates, start with the lightest chocolate and progressively work toward darker varieties, ending with dark or bittersweet chocolate.

Visit http://www.normanloveconfections.com/ to order a wide selection of fresh handcrafted chocolate creations, from the single-origin dark chocolate collection Norman Love Confections BLACK™ to the 36 different flavored confections available year-round.

Please share your favorite Norman Love Confections chocolate and wine pairings here for others to try!

Have you ever wondered why we eat so much more during the holidays? Who came up with the idea of going door to door to score loads of candy on Halloween? At what point in American history did Thanksgiving become all about the turkey and pies? Can Santa really eat all the cookies and milk at each and every home he visits? And don’t chocolate bunnies seem an odd way to celebrate Easter when you really think about it?

We can’t argue with success, and wouldn’t want to either. We love all of these holiday traditions as much as the next person – possibly more given our passion for chocolate.  Just thought we’d give you some food for thought (no pun intended) and hope you will join us by sharing the holiday traditions you most look forward to this year.

Here are few extreme “Trick or Treat Tidbits” from the National Confectioner’s Association to whet your appetite as Halloween approaches:

• Four-in-ten (41%) adults admit that they sneak sweets from their own candy bowl
• On Halloween night, the majority (52%) of those providing treats to costumed. kiddies will be passing out chocolate, while three-in-ten will drop hard candy or lollipops into the sacks.
• 62% of adults will be handing out candy because “it’s a personal favorite” or it’s a household tradition (55%).
• 43% of grown-up celebrants cite costumes as one of the most indispensable parts of the holiday.
• About 26% of households will include full-size candy (chocolate and non-chocolate) in their Halloween activities.
• 90% of parents admit to sneaking goodies from their kids’ Halloween trick-or-treat bags.
• Parents favorite treats to sneak from their kids’ trick-or-treat bags are snack-size chocolate bars (70% sneak these), candy-coated chocolate pieces (40%), caramels (37%) and gum (26%).
• Parents least favorite goodie to take from their kids’ trick-or-treat bags is licorice (18%).
• 30% of kids report that they SORT their candy first when returning home with trick-or-treat loot, others: Savor it (20%), Share it (16%), Stash it (14%) or Swap it (7%).
• Kids say they prefer homes that give: anything made with chocolate (68%) followed by lollipops (9%), gummy candy (7%) and bubble gum or chewing gum (7%).
• More than 93% of children go trick-or-treating each year.
• Kids tell us that their favorite treats to receive when trick-or-treating are candy and gum. Eighty-four percent of kids said candy and gum are their favorites over other options like baked goods or small toys.