So the time for the big night had arrived. And I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I had stayed up until 5 am that night due to both a late dinner and last minute truffle making , and what little sleep I did get was interrupted by the butterflies flitting about in my stomach. I am not really sure why I felt so nervous. I had presented in front of groups a million times before so this wasn’t really anything new, just a different topic. But then again, I was also in Buenos Aires, one of the largest cities in the world presenting something fairly unheard of in many places. Okay, so I had a right to be nervous.
As people arrived I could see mixed expressions on their faces, some of doubt, others of excited anticipation, others not really sure what to expect. I can’t blame them either. Chocolate and wine tasting is a fairly new concept so most people are not really sure how it will turn out. And to be honest, most of the time neither do I. 
But that is the fun of it, experimenting until I come up with a fantastic pairing. But at the end of the day, it is all about chocolate and wine. And you can’t really go wrong with that.
We began the evening with a short discussion on the history of chocolate: where it comes from, who used it, how it evolved. And from there we delved into the tasting. I had decided to use a mix of both chocolate and truffles so that I could expose people to different textures. Regarding flavours and aromas I used a various single origin chocolate from different countries such as Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador. Just like wine, each chocolate has its own unique aroma and flavor profile. For me part of the fun is to discover those unique aromas and flavours and then find a way to pair them with the wines.
We went through each one, first tasting the wine on its own and analyzing the flavours and aromas, and then trying the chocolate by itself and going through the same process. Whenever I begin one of these tastings I am always highly entertained at people’s reaction to the chocolate. Their first impulse is to start eating it right away, at which point I have to intervene and whip out the wooden ruler, rapping at people’s over enthusiastic hands. I believe this is a habit that we have all gotten into and one which I work hard at helping people change. We are just used to shoveling back food without any regard to what it tastes like. It is a fast way of ingesting calories and making ourselves full so that we can move on to other things we need to get done throughout the day. However, once you actually sit down and really taste something you will more often than not find that you actually eat less of it and are still full after the experience. This is what happens when you start eating with all of your senses.
We then started tasting the different chocolates and wines together. And this is where, for me, the real fun begins. Everyone started to become involved in the process, really slowing down and experiencing what was taking place in their mouth. The looks of joy, surprise, pleasure, and pure bliss were for me the pinnacle of the evening. This is what I aim for, teaching people how to taste and enjoy what they are eating. This was a true example of awakening their senses.
The tasting menu that evening was as follows:
1. Semi sweet Ecuadorian chocolate from Rio Arriba, 62% cacao, infused with orange paired with Crios Torrontes 2008.
2. My signature dark chocolate truffle with malbec paired with Filia Malbec 2005 from Familia Gargantini
3. Lindt Dark Chili Chocolate paired with Malamado by Familia Zuccardi
My objective is always to do non-traditional pairings. I have always been about trying new things and stearing away from the common, so I also incorporate this philosophy into my tastings. And I believe I was able to achieve just that with this particular pairing. The first one, to begin is a white wine. And a semi -sweet chocolate. Definitely non- traditional. Most white wines are usually paired with a sweet chocolate, however this one, having the orange in it brought out the fruits that are naturally found in the Torrontés wine. The second one was with my signature dark truffle. This was made with a 72% dark chocolate from Boliva, from the Moxos area. The creaminess and leathery notes in the truffle paired well with the fruity and oak notes in the wine. And the last one was one of my favourites. A dark chocolate infused with chili pepper. This pairing brought out an explosion of chili pepper in the mouth but then finished with a sweetness brought about by this beautiful port style wine.
By the end of the evening everyone had become enchanted with the concept of chocolate and wine pairing. I received many beautiful comments and compliments on the experience I had been able to provide them with. Lol, I even received an email afterwards from one participant confessing that he had originally arrived expecting very little from this event given that the first tasting was with a Torrontés, a varietal he normally doesn’t like, chocolate itself which he is not a big fan of, and lastly a port style wine which he also doesn’t like. Yet at the end he left in love with the Torrontés, the chocolate and he ended up buying two bottles of the Malamado. I was a bit speechless when I received his email as it made me realize what an impact this experience had left on people. But the most important thing for me was that they had experienced something new and opened their palates up to something they had never considered before. They had tasted new flavours and changed their perspective on both chocolate and wine. And this, for me, was the ultimate triumph: awakening their senses.
