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Love, with Instructions

Posted on February 14, 2014 by lilliebette

Hi All! Whether you are drinking with your love or you are drinking with your single buddies (don’t drink alone y’all) I have a pairing just for you. Sorry this post is a little late in the day but I already have a new pairing for my next post.

This pairing is literally a no-brainer. Sad to say love is not always this way, but hey, one can dream.

Shout out to my friend Seana who got me these chocolates. Feel free friends to give me candy WHENEVER you want.

The Wine: F. Stephen Millier, Angel’s Reserve, Zinfandel, 2012

Zinfandel, 2012

Zinfandel, 2012

The Candy:

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Pairing Chocolates

The Dream:

I won’t even pretend you guys. The chocolate said Zinfandel on it. Sooo.

The Reality:

The wine is a bit bitter but with the ripeness of a plum. It’s not a remarkable Zin but still good. The chocolate itself is quite bitter and dry. There’s a slight kick at the end but I don’t think that’s intentional.

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I wasn’t sure how this was going to go considering the chocolate was so dry and chalky. But the chocolate actually enhances the flavor of the wine. The chocolate goodness combines with the wine to smooth out some of the bitter notes. The chocolate also melts a bit and it is very enjoyable.

So there you have it–unfortunately love can’t always be easy, but pairing can be!

xoxo

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Such A Sweet Nut

Posted on July 2, 2013 by lilliebette

Hello!

After a rather long break, I’m back and armed with many treats acquired in Istanbul. I’m typing this on my iPhone because I’m too lazy to start my computer and transfer photos there. It would be shameful, but I choose to ignore those feelings.

Today’s pairing features some delectable pistachio chocolate paired with some Virginia Riesling. I don’t know if you can get pistachio chocolate where you live, but the Internet must have a way. If you can scrounge some up, I recommend trying this pair.

The Wine: Rockbridge White Riesling

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The Candy: Dark and Milk Pistachio Chocolate

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The Dream:

I imagined that the sweet Riesling would enhance nuttiness combined with chocolate. The tasty dry Riesling would aid a new nuance to the pistachio flavor while mingling pleasantly with the chocolate.

The Reality:

After biting into the dark chocolate, I was instantly disappointed by the small number of pistachios. It basically was a Riesling – Dark Chocolate pairing. I was counting on the pistachios balancing out the chocolate to the point of almost overwhelming it. Not the case.

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The milk chocolate though had a great deal of pistachios. In one bite I could taste the rich, butter pistachios that were smashed close together. The Riesling then had a delight effect. The sweet wine added a lightness to the heavy and flavorful nut-chocolate combination. I think if the wine had been a bit more sweet, the take away would be even better. Overall though, I recommend it!

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Pistachio Pair

Posted on July 1, 2013 by lilliebette

Look forward to a new post featuring a pairing with these beauties!

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Istanbul Sweet

Posted on June 17, 2013 by lilliebette

Hey friends!

We fly home tomorrow and we’ve had a great time. Rest assured, I have sweets to pair on my return.

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Liz

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All About Karou

Posted on April 11, 2013 by lilliebette

Hello!

Cats. Do you like cats? If not, this may not be the post for you, because that’s kind of the theme. I bought a cat recently and yes, she took a lot of my money and my heart too. I am pretty smitten and of course I will show you a picture. Her name is Karou she’s sweet as a button.

Oh Hello. Rub my belly?

Oh Hello. Rub my belly?

The jump off point for the pairing was the Ecuadorian cranberry chocolate bar that my cousin gave me when I saw her play at the National Cathedral. I would link you to her website but you could probably find me through that and well, we’d never fall out of our drunken stupor. Suffice it to say she’s really talented. I mean, she played St. John’s Passion at the National Cathedral right?

I felt like one chocolate bar wasn’t enough, so I added Ghiradelli raspberry chocolate. Cranberry and raspberry work well together since they are both tart and sweet. And the wine..

But I don’t think I will say anymore…it’s a surprise…

The Wine: Gatao, Vinho Verde

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The Candy: Pacari Organic Chocolate, Cranberry & Ghiradelli Raspberry Chocolate Squares

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The Dream:

When I got the cranberry chocolate, I imagined frozen cranberries in a nice cool white wine. I could taste the cranberry bursting in my mouth and combining with a crisp chardonnay or pinot blanc.

But I couldn’t decide while I was at the market! I was fresh off the cat purchase and feeling pretty frisky, so I grabbed the cat wine thinking…well, this will be terrible.

I was wrong.

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The Reality:

The wine is sweet, dry and slightly tart with bubbles that pop on your tongue. It is a nice wine and I am delighted it is so cheap.

The chocolate is rich with a chewy center of cranberry. It makes the wine soft and a bit sweeter but in a good way. The flavor and integrity of the wine isn’t dominated by the chocolate.

The raspberry chocolate squares area bit different. The wine gets more tart but it isn’t as crisp. I don’t like it quite as much.

The Take Away:

Cranberry chocolate with an ideal white is delicious and I can recommend it without any hesitations. It’s been awhile since I could give two thumbs up, but I guess Karou is my lucky charm.

 

My next post won’t be a pairing..something a bit different! I am just full of surprises aren’t I?

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A Lover’s Pair

Posted on February 11, 2013 by lilliebette

Today’s post is, you guessed it, Valentine’s Day themed! But if you are looking for Candy Hearts and Chocolate Kisses, go elsewhere (except don’t, please stay…love me), because I have a less traditional approach.

This post is based on a little game I made up to test your compatibility to your partner.

This is how you play:

1-Toss a coin with your honey. Heads gets candy, tails gets the wine.

2-Part ways and choose wisely. No texting back and forth and no peeking! What would Cupid say?

3-Reunite to sip, chew, and enjoy

Lacking a perfect date for your new beau? Good thing you stumbled upon this blog.

This is how the game went down for Sam & me.

Sam-Heads

Liz-Tails

Let the love begin.

The Candy: Almond Joy, Snack Size

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The Wine: Beringer Zinfandel 2011 (like the bunny kitsch?)

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The Dream:

The PERFECT pair that would determine the fate of our relationship

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The Reality:

The wine is sweet, rich, and a bit tart (just like me right?). There’s a pleasant aftertaste, but it’s slightly too ripe for me.

An Almond Joy is mostly chocolate and coconut at first. This combo mixes well with the Zin, but it doesn’t stand out as anything exceptional. The nuttiness of the almond adds a more diverse flavor palet. The pair is OK and I wouldn’t say no to it, but I think we can do better by coconut in the future.

What does this say about our love?

We both chose perfectly mediocre candy/wine with a mediocre result. What if I chose a $100 bottle or Sam chose a high-end candy? How out of sync would that be?

So the answer is: our love is here to say (thanks Sam, you are a real sport…love you)

 

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Mexicano Chocolate & Shiraz (but not the one in Iran)

Posted on December 19, 2012 by lilliebette

Hello,

I have been on a chocolate kick lately and I am sorry but it’s staying that way for awhile. You can call it whatever you want and in regards to jokes about women and chocolate, let’s just say there is no amount of wine to make them funny. And I’m realizing that chocolate is not always that easy to pair. Chocolate has so many varieties and textures. It can be coated in candy, encased between graham crackers and put on top of ice cream. And although red wine and chocolate is a safe bet, it is not always going to be a slam dunk.

I am sorry chocolate, for thinking you were so easy to understand. Can we start over?

Before I begin, I have to do a shout-out to my friend who gave me some chocolate to pair. Not only is it delicious chocolate, it is coffee chocolate.  It was super nice of her and I encourage everyone to..uh..do that. Anyway, I also had left over Xmas M&Ms from making my gingerbread house. This splash of Christmas cheer is a bit of a warm up for next week’s pairing.

The Candy: Dark Chocolate Mexicano-Coffee

Delicious AND circular

Delicious AND Circular

AND Xmas M&Ms!

Tastes Like Christmas

Tastes Like Christmas

The Wine: Nugan, Third Generation Shiraz, 2011

Not to be confused with Nugat

Not to be confused with Nugat

The Dream:

Mmmm shiraz. A delectable fruity wine I don’t know too much about. I always associated it with being light, but that is because the name flies off the tongue. It sounds like a dance step. At any rate, I thought the distinct fruit flavors would liven up the coffee and chocolate.I knew the Mexicano chocolate had a subtle coffee flavor, so I worried the fruity shiraz would throw off the coffee flavor. I tossed in the M&Ms at a whim, because they were simply on hand.

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I know you guys can see my reflection in these photos. I can’t pretend otherwise.

Let’s see how it went.

The Reality: 

The first prominent taste in the Shiraz is the pleasant and familiar bitterness. It reminds me of the skin of an orange. The bitter flavor transitions into a bursting of rich pomegranate. It pops on your tongue.

The chocolate is flaky and dark with a slight crunch. It is rich and coats the mouth. The aftertaste is definitely coffee. After I take the sip of wine, the chocolate fairs pretty well and the bitterness decreases. It is still there, but faint instead of commanding the taste buds. The coffee flavor in the chocolate is weaker too. The pomegranate and chocolate flavors meld nicely, but it wasn’t quite the effect I wanted.

The M&Ms taste extremely sweet in comparison to the dark chocolate. The wine gets increasingly bitter with the M&Ms staying true to their very very sweet form. It is actually ok, but not amazing.

This pairing went well all things considered. The flavors were interesting and a little unpredictable. A coffee chocolate may be more suited with a port, but I could be wrong.

The Takeaway: I recommend a fruity wine with a darker chocolate, though you may not get all the initial flavors.

And as promised, my gingerbread house!

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The Fruits of Labor

Posted on September 2, 2012 by lilliebette

Happy Labor Day weekend!

I will go against the grain here and labor a bit in order to make a new post. I am going to stop talking about how I get a bit behind on posting because I am sure that’s very boring.

Summer is officially over. I do not know how that will change my pallet. Hopefully the crisp Autumn, that won’t come to DC until late September, will bring exciting flavors. Today’s post is certainly something different, venturing into a type of sweet I usually don’t like: white chocolate. It’s not that white chocolate isn’t lovely; it’s perfectly fine. I consider it a lower chocolate. Although it doesn’t taste like it, white chocolate reminds me of hardened lard. It’s a solid white mass that is very fatty and usually pretty bland. That’s why I decided to take it on. What would this blog be if I didn’t step out of my comfort zone?

We continue to go through the bag of wine I got a few weeks ago. I have to say I was disappointed this time around. Unlike the stunning chardonnay I sampled last, this wine didn’t knock my socks off. It was fine but but I can’t say I will buy it again. As pairing goes, it was good which is saying  a lot considering I paired two things I don’t exactly like.

Enjoy the post and please, relax today. I know I slept in after a very busy week and tomorrow I start my online statistics class. Tonight I plan to work on another pairing and celebrate the end of a truly great summer. Thanks to you all for helping make it great.

The Wine: Cuvée de Peña, vin de pays des Pyrénénees-Orientales, 2009

Pretty label, but it rubs me the wrong way somehow

The Candy: Lindt, Lindor Vanilla White Chocolate

Little Scoops of Ice Cream

The Dream:

The reality is I bought these while on the phone so my mind was elsewhere. I also love vanilla and Lindt is relatively safe. I know it’s not too fancy, but it’s white chocolate, the trashiest of chocolates (sorry I’m not sorry if I offended you). I actually did not mean to have the packaging of the wine and chocolate match, but it turned out quite lovely right? White chocolate has this viscosity to it and is simple flavor wise.

Pairing the Lindt with a generic wine felt safe but still had the potential to pleasantly surprise me. Since white chocolate is relatively bland, the red could build on it’s flavors and provide the extra boost white chocolate usually lacks.

 

The Reality:

The chocolates are little scoops of vanilla ice cream. Each ball of chocolate is sprinkled with black vanilla flecks and the vanilla flavor is intense and rich. I froze them, because that is just how I prefer my chocolate. It also keeps them from overwhelming your mouth. When each chocolate unfrozen it sort of makes my mouth sweaty. They sort of make my lactose-intolerant mouth lurch at first taste, but that is ok. I like that just one is enough to satisfy your sweet tooth.

The wine has a leathery smell with notes of blackberry. It is smooth with an acidic finish, but lacks any outstanding flavors beyond the blackberry. I think this is a great table wine that would go with many dishes. It won’t overwhelm your food but certainly will not start any conversations.

The small truffles creates additional smoothness for the wine and gives it a softer finish. The sweet vanilla adds to the subtle blackberry notes and elongates the fruit flavors. It’s an indulgent treat and I could not eat too many. The pairing is good and I imagine it would go well with any generic red (sorry for the word generic, it’s not right). I imagine a nice rioja would also be pleasant.

 

Have a happy holiday and remember, it’s California wine month!

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A Twist on a Classic

Posted on August 23, 2012 by lilliebette

Happy Thursday. I hope all of my super cool readers are doing well. I know the end of summer looms on the horizon. For some of you it is exciting and for others maybe not so much. Either way, I hope you are coming to peace with the coming fall.

To help you find that inner happiness, I came up with a lovely pairing. It is not revolutionary, but it’s good wine and intriguing candy. Full disclaimer: all the wines for the next 6 postings or so will be classier wines. I snagged a great Groupon for a wine store in downtown DC. I recommend Groupon for finding wine deals. Sometimes they are not actually deals, but when they are you can get a decent haul. I even got one of those fancy bags with different slots for wine…for you know, all those instances where I need to buy a bunch of wine at once (come to think of it, I could use that bad boy to recycle a lot of my bottles!) For some of my readers, this wine may not seem so top-shelf. But for a lowly 23-year old, these wines are absolute treats. I have even enforced a one-glass at a time rule so they don’t dwindle away. Let’s see how long that lasts.

Our candy is an interesting one. It was too intriguing to pass up and of course it came from Trader Joe’s. They are chocolate raspberry sticks. If you read that and have no idea what I am talking about, you are in good company. When Sam and I saw them it was an instant ‘yes.’ I thought the touch of raspberry and the thin chocolate shell could play well with the chardonnay.

The Wine: Cinnabar, 2010

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Starry Eyed

I loved the cap to this wine so I have to share it. It’s adorable, while staying classy. It has a wonderful whimsy to it.

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It’s a blurry photo because this cap excited me that much

The Candy: Trader Joe’s Chocolate Raspberry (Jelly) Sticks

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I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly….stick

The Dream: 

This candy combined two different types of candy–chocolate and jelly-gummy candy. Gummy candies are difficult to pair, so the chocolate edge and the substantial amount of jelly in the middle offered a promising treat. The flavor range was not too big, which made the pairing easier to manage. Chocolate and raspberry are classics, but this candy has a twist to make it interesting. Chardonnay can usually hold its own against sweetness. It can be very potent and since I knew I had a high quality wine, I felt confident. But I sort of always feel confident, so that’s neither here nor there.

ImageThe Reality: 

A sip of this wine is an onslaught of flavor with notes of tart green apples and ripe pears. It is extremely dry and pungent, which for me is what a Chardonnay should be. It’s refreshing and you savor each sip to extract the play between tart and crisp. The color is a deep yellow, like the skin of a ripe lemon. I enjoyed this wine over several days and it felt like luxury. This wine would be wonderful to share with some close friends on a late August evening.

The candy is intriguing. They are indeed jelly sticks surrounded by chocolate. No doubt about that. The milk chocolate is typical but the gummy center is far squishier than I expected. The raspberry is not overly sweet but rather sour. Your lips pucker a bit and the amount of filling washes away the chocolate from the tongue. It really is tasty. I suggest freezing them as well.

Together, these two make a nice pairing. The wine does not go sour after the sweet treat and both are strong flavor wise individually. But I don’t think either one enhances the other. They are both good and they taste well together, but there are no fireworks. The raspberry leaves that slight tart kick that lingers lightly for no more than a second with the chardonnay. An interesting surprise.

I recommend this pairing overall. The jelly sticks are fun, but mostly because the are called jelly sticks. The wine is simply mouth watering. You can’t lose when you are consuming these two, and truly, what else can you ask for?

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Zinful Indeed

Posted on June 17, 2012 by lilliebette

Hey there!

I did this pairing a week ago and I thought I could get it posted by Monday. But it turns out I have a job as well as a blog and it just didn’t happen last week. I hope you forgive me.

To make up for my absence, I have an excellent pairing for you. As you may remember, I paired it with the premier of True Blood. With the second episode airing tonight, I am not too off base. If you don’t know the show, that’s ok because watching it is not a prerequisite for enjoying this pairing.

I like the idea of TV pairings because TV and wine already go well together. Add some candy in the mix and you have an excellent night. As some of you may remember, I blogged during the season premier of Mad Men. Your next TV pair will most likely be for Breaking Bad (rock candy, anyone?).

Hopefully you’ll catch this post before the next episode of True Blood. If not, we have a whole, bloody season ahead of us.

The Wine: Cardinal Zin, Zinfadel, 2010 California

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Last season featured some religious figures behaving very badly…the wine was a natural choice.

The Candies: Godiva: Milk Chocolate Dipped Strawberries; Ghiradelli Dark Chocolate Raspberry

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For a show about vamps, having a candy with a red filling was a natural choice.

The Dream:

The chocolate with red filling of any variety was the basis for this pairing.  The “bloody” factor. Originally, I wanted chocolate covered cherries but I couldn’t find them (I only looked two places–oops). That little accident ended up being a happy one. In terms of wine, a zinfadel instantly came to mind. It’s fruity with a deep, strong flavored while maintaining a lighter quality. Boyfriend’s family love zin so I know it fairly well. The time was up for ignoring my zin.

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Obviously, this glass is amazing.

 

The Reality:

There a moments when I’m doing this blog where I am filled with false confidence. I think, wow, I’m super good at this. I had one of these moments with this pairing. I was with people I just met, so having this work felt really good.

The zin has a light sweetness and a slight tang. It does not go down smoothly, but it’s full, rich flavor makes up for it. Some wines are meals unto themselves whereas others are a perfect pairing wine. This wine was the later. It’s a great summer wine, light while still flavorful.

The chocolate is pretty much what you would expect. I need to start doing some edgy candy, but I put the shopping off so Ghiradelli and Godiva it is. The dark chocolate I liked the best, since it’s so rich and the raspberry is a tangy surprise. It pairs really well with the wine since each has a very simple pallet and they compliment each other. The rich chocolate with the tangy center compliments the full flavored wine. Since the chocolate isn’t very sweet, I can still enjoy the sweetness of the zin.

The Godiva I don’t like very much since it is milk chocolate. I just don’t like milk chocolate. It feels too sweet and the strawberries are rather meager. I hate to pair milk chocolate since I already dislike it, but I wanted to provide variety. It certainly isn’t terrible and a friend enjoyed the pairing. I think the wine had such full flavor that it overpowered the meager milk chocolate.

I will be going on a real vacation soon. I can’t promise a pairing in the near future, since I’ll be prepping for going away and then I’ll be gone. I’ll also be away from the Internet. I’ll try to scrounge something up, but no promises.

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