Chocolate Wine?

CHOCOLATE ORANGE wine

Yes, a rich Chocolate and Orange/whey wine in the style of a liqueur - sort of a liquid Chocolate truffle - to be served with or over anything, and making the word "chocoholic" valid.

The Chocolate Orange has been tasted and appreciated by thousands since 1991.

Made with six rich Chocolates from four countries, with no artificial flavorings or materials, it is approximately 10% alcohol. Most so-called Chocolate liqueurs are 20, 30, or 40% alcohol with artificial flavorings (and usually don't taste very good.) And this has no similarity whatsoever with the cheap, artificial so called “chocolate wines” that have come out in the last couple of years, and are intensely marketed to the youngest possible consumer.

This heavy, rich Chocolate Orange wine comes in a 375 ml (12 1/2 fl oz) bottle, retailing at the winery for $34. (Coincidentally, about the same price per net ounce as better chocolate truffles (and this has alcohol and a glass enclosure!)

If you are interested in trying this unique Chocolate, you may contact me by e-mail, paul@shallon.com , and I can tell you what shipping would be to your address.

Since this is practically a one man operation, and communications to this provincial northwest corner of Oregon are sort of erratic, I am not yet setup to take credit cards, therefore, checks are the only option at this time.

UPS is the shipping option (it's against federal law to ship alcohol by post office!).

WHAT TO DO WITH IT?

Here are some suggestiongs from our customers:

Try It Over:

Fine vanilla ice cream.

Sliced mangoes and ice cream.

Orange sherbet.

Angel food cake.

Angel fodd cake with strawberries.

Cheescake

Shortcake.

Biscotti.

Flourless chcoclate cake.

Lady fingers.

Crepes.

A dessert souffle.

Cream puffs.

Meringue cookies.

Pancakes or waffles.

Biscuits or buns.

Fresh pears.

Poached pears.

A friend.

FOR DIPPING:

Strawberries.
Bananas.
Frozen sections Mandarin oranges.
Stemmed cherries.
Maraschino cherries.
Wine crackers.

OR:

Serve straight - or with whipped cream.
Sip hot (the ultimate hot chocolate) with a dollop of whipped cream.
Blend with frozen sliced bananas and yogurt.
Make instant mousse using the cream whipping device with the nitrogen charger (you can float the mousse on other drinks).

When you can't get anymore out of the bottle, add whipped cream and shake, or immerse the bottle in hot water to make the chocolate more liquid.

The Chocolate Orange should be practically indestructible; a bar of baking chocolate in the pantry would last forever; this has alcohol and a glass enclosure. But you never know what someone may do with wine. The only complaint I’ve ever had was solidification in the bottle; there is that much chocolate. They probably put it in the refrigerator; it does not need to be refrigerated and should not be. Most people just leave it around the kitchen until it is finished some day.

Had a lady call me from Montana who had left a partial bottle of Chocolate in her basement that she forgot about for eight years! I said, “You didn’t taste it did you?” She said, “Yes, it was wonderful.” And ordered some more. I don’t suggest that.

The challenge of the Chocolate Orange was to suspend the chocolate in the orange wine without using emulsifiers or other artificial junk. If that were Hershey’s chocolate, it would all fall to the bottom of the bottle, and, taste like sand going down. So the three challenges were the suspension of the chocolate, the mouth feel, and the flavor. The permutations of that are outrageous. If I lose another chocolate, may not be able to do it again.

Further instructions: The viscosity of the wine changes somewhat from small batch to small batch, therefore, the added instructions (that no one seems to pay attention to anyway.) On the bottle it says, “shake” before serving just in case there is a separation of wine and chocolate. Then, after serving, I suggest putting the bottle away in the cupboard UPRIGHT, so that if you forget it for eight years, you can open the cork and look in there. If there is liquid wine on the surface, and that wine smells like an old oxidized bottle of wine, you can pour that little bit off and shake up the rest of it. Or, it may not smell oxidized, and you could shake it up. Or, it may have no wine on the surface, and you can shake it up anyway. Most people don’t pay any attention to that, but that is my advice.

About the Label:The label is an ancient Dutch flag. My dad came from Holland. He said that if that flag was flying with the red disc in the corner, it meant that the Prince of Orange was in residence at the palace. I appropriately changed the red disc here to an orange. A Dutchman in the other day said that the monarchy still uses that ancient flag on their yachts and things.

PRAISE FROM THE MEDIA!

SUSAN HAUSER in The New York Times "chocolate orange wine" — "My sweet tooth satisfied "

NICK TOMASSI in Wine Press Northwest Winter ‘03 "Chocolate-Orange whey wine, a thick, delicious blend of six European chocolates that is reminiscent of the chocolate-orange candies prevalent around the holidays."

JERRY HAINES in The Washington Post "Shallon Winery’s chocolate orange wine is luscious, a liquid bonbon whose flavor satisfies the sweet tooth but stops well short of cloying."

Los Angeles Times "Unconventional as they sound, they all are delicious, particularly the chocolate orange” — “with six kinds of chocolate from four countries. It’s a bonbon in a bottle."

JERRY HAINES in The Washington Post "Shallon Winery’s chocolate orange wine is luscious, a liquid bonbon whose flavor satisfies the sweet tooth but stops well short of cloying."

PETER MARSH in Freshwater Boating News " a rich whey wine in the style of a liqueur-son of a liquid chocolate truffle to be served with or over anything. "

CAROL PUCCI in The Seattle Times "a chocolate-orange concoction as thick as syrup."

M. L. LYKE in Seattle Post-Intelligencer "as silky and satisfying as a custom-made truffle."

T. JANOWITZ in Food & Wine "had at least another 40 ideas for what to do with (it)."

TIM PAWSEY in The Vancouver Courier (BC) "Chocolate/Orange whey wine, which has the onsistency of liquified truffles and the finish of a liqueur"

National Geographic Driving Guides to America Pacific Northwest "a thick brown mixture that almost prompts visitors to reach for a spoon."

LET’S Go® Travel Guide Pacific Northwest "kingdom of fantastic wines" — "chocolate orange wine is quite the decadent liqueur"

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