by glenn and katrin on March 29, 2012
Pairing Menu for Valrhona Chocolate and Port Tasting
White Chocolate Mousse Cup made with Valrhona Ivoire
Croft Pink
Milk Chocolate Mousse Cup made with Valrhona Jivara
Taylor 20 Year Old Tawny
Praline Feuilletine made with Valrhona Noisette Noir
Taylor 30 Year Old Tawny
Manjari Mini Pastry made with Valrhona Manjari
Warre’s 1999 LBV
Whoopie Pie made with Valrhona Guanaja
Graham’s “Six Grapes” Reserve Porto
GLENN – Chef Nicole Coady loves – really loves – Valrhona chocolate. Considered to be one of the world’s foremost chocolates, Chef Coady uses it to perfection in the desserts she creates for Finale. As part of the special tasting events she offers at the desserterie, she recently conducted a tasting of desserts incorporating Valrhona paired with assorted Ports. I say “conducted” since the event was very much a class in chocolate and its manufacture – an odyssey from ugly cacao pod to heavenly couverture - accompanied by samples of Chef Coady’s desserts which illustrate the range of Valrhona chocolates from white to bittersweet. The Ports she chose to pair with each dessert also represented a wide range – from the new-style Croft Pink to Ruby and Tawny. We were fortunate to be invited by Mindy Valone of CM Communications to be media guests at this chocolicious event.
KATRIN – Chef Coady’s excitement and energy is contagious, especially when it comes to chocolate and creating truly sublime desserts.
GLENN – As I said we were to some extent “in school” – but what a school! We were first offered a plate of the five type of chocolate used in the evening’s desserts - a piece of Valrhona to compare and contrast with a piece of the same type of chocolate from another manufacturer. This enabled us to discern the flavors in each of the chocolate’s unadulterated state. 
Next we tasted the dessert made from that chocolate and the accompanying port.Then the decision – did the pairing work for us or not. During our tasting, Chef Coady related her rationale for choosing a specific chocolate for a specific dessert and the extent to which she goes to get it right which means unacceptable desserts get trashed, expensive trash considering the price of chocolate.
KATRIN - Chef Coady makes the most incredible chocolate mousse. Both the white chocolate mousse and milk chocolate mousse were light as air, ethereal, smooth, and not overly sweet. Even though these delicate concoctions are simply divine, I would have a hard time picking out a favorite among the pairings. The flavors of the praline feuilletine and the 30 Year Old Tawny were fabulous together, but the super sweetness of the feuilletine made it difficult to eat more than one bite. The whoopie pie, though, left an impression and I can’t wait to go back and have it again. A light crispness on the outside and a soft, dense outside (kind of like a slightly undercooked brownie) with a light vanilla cream filling. Wow!
GLENN – Of the five pairings, two really stood out for me. First, the milk chocolate mousse paired with the 20 year old Tawny. The mousse, made with Valrhona Jivara, had none of the insipidness often associated with milk chocolate. Actually, it had a somewhat robust flavor that paired well with the elegance of the Port. The last pairing was for me the highlight of the evening. Chef’s Coady’s whoopie pie is spectacular. Though based on the bittersweet Valrhona Guanaja, Chef Coady rounds out the flavor with other chocolates. The result is a dessert with a substantial chocolate depth. Paired with this was the Graham’s “Six Grapes”, the lively fruit of the wine marrying exceedingly well with the rich chocolate.
KATRIN – Another fun, and tasty, event at Finale. Though overall I enjoyed it very much, there were a couple of things that I wish were different. First, at the last tasting of Bubbles and Bites, Chef Coady was accompanied by Jon Sherman, who talked about the wines that were being poured. I wondered how many attendees were familiar with Port and the different styles that are made. His knowledge would have complemented the lesson in chocolate, since Chef Coady did not really speak at all about the Ports. My second point is the pacing of the program. As I mentioned, Chef Coady is great at talking to all the tables, but there were a lot of attendees and there was significant time between pairings, making the evening drag on a bit.
Upcoming event at Finale that are of particular interest to dessertophiles are an ice wine and dessert tasting and a craft beer and dessert tasting. Details on the website.
by glenn and katrin on March 2, 2012
The Pairing Menu for Bubbles and Bites
2010 Michele Chiarlo, Moscato d’Asti “Nivole” (Piedmont, Italy) paired with crème brûlée
2009 Rosa Regale, Brachetto d’Acqui (Piedmont, Italy) paired with a Manjari Mousse Cup
NV Nino Franco “Rustico” Prosecco (Veneto, Italy) paired with Finale’s signature Cheesecake
NV “Anna de Codorniu” Brut Cava (Spain) paired with a Fruit Tart
NV Chandon, Brut (California) paired with a Key Lime Tart
The Bites
Glenn – We were fortunate to be invited by Mindy Valone of CM Communications to attend the “Bites and Bubbles” tasting at the Park Plaza Finale, an event pairing desserts with sparkling wines. Dessert and sparklers – how could we ever refuse such an invitation? Recently, Zagat cited Finale as one of the top five “dessert spots” in Boston. A trip to either the Harvard Square or Park Plaza locations verifies this claim. Chef Nicole Coady interprets the canon of modern American desserts in an extremely delicious fashion. For this event, five desserts were paired with five wines. We began with the simple but perfect crème brûlée and progressed to more complex challenging flavors. As evidenced by the desserts we sampled, flavors and textures were spot on. And the wine selections were appropriate to each, complementing the sweetness and assertiveness of each “bite”.
Katrin – I have been getting over having had the flu for the past week or so, and it has definitely had an impact on my sense of taste and smell. Everything is still a bit off, particularly wines, and unfortunately I missed some of the more delicate interactions between the wines and the dessert pairings. The order of the tasting didn’t help that fact at all. We started with the sweetest wines and moved on to the driest. It was difficult to enjoy the Prosecco, and even more so the Cava and sparkler from California, after tasting the Michele Chiarlo Moscato d’Asti and the Rosa Regale. Their sweetness lingered and affected the flavor of the drier wines. Nevertheless, the desserts were incredible, and I was particularly struck by the smoothness of the crème brûlée, incredibly silky mouthfeel of the chocolate mousse, and the lightness of the cheesecake. Delicious!
Glenn – From Katrin’s wine perspective, she found the wines out of order. However, from my culinary perspective, I found the progression satisfying. The key for me was acidity. The sweet, low acid, low alcohol wines were paired with simple desserts such as the crème brûlée and the chocolate mousse while the more acidic cheesecake, fruit tart and, most acidic, key lime tart were matched with drier more acidic wines.
The "Bubbles"
Katrin – Jon Sherwood from Horizon Beverage was our knowledgeable guide through the sparkling wines. He did an excellent job making the complex process of how sparkling wine is made accessible to everyone there regardless of how much they knew about wine and talking about the regions in which the wines were produced. One of my biggest wine pet peeves is hearing people refer to all sparkling wines as Champagne, so I was relieved that Jon explained the difference right at the outset.
Glenn – There was a tag team approach to the evening. John Sherwood would discuss each wine as we were guided through the pairings and then he would hand-off to Chef Coady who would discuss the dessert. The duo would then circulate among the guests answering questions. It was this face-to-face interaction which elevated the evening beyond a mere tasting event. During the evening, we learned that one of Chef Coady’s passions is vanilla. She explained the different varieties she uses and how they effect flavor – Tahitian for floral tones, Mexican for an earthy accent. And she’s leaving shortly for Madagascar, one of the world’s center for chocolate production. Now that trip will be sweet as was our evening.
Katrin – Many thanks to Chef Coady for the wonderful pastries, Jon for sharing his wine knowledge, Brian Berry, the manager of Finale, for his hospitality, and of course Mindy Valone of CM Communications for putting it all together!
One final view of Chef Coady's wonderful desserts
Finale offers a varied program of dessert and beverage events. A calendar of these special evenings can be found here.
Something to crow about
I was shopping for dinner. I was going to grill pork chops rubbed with a coffee and coriander dry rub and accompany the chops with a Yukon Gold potato salad with a pesto and champagne vinaigrette. (I still had a small stash of pesto in the freezer that I’d made in the fall.) I had all the items I needed so I headed over to the wine section. Usually when I grill meat, I drink Zinfandel – my everyday choice the current Vintner’s Cuvée from Rosenblum; for special evenings, something from Ridge. However, a large floor display for 2008 Rook Columbia Valley caused me to change direction. The verbage accompanying the stack of bottles recommended serving it with pork or salmon. I thought, why not? I had enjoyed and wrote about the white blend from the Corvidae Wine Co. – the 2009 Crowe; now I’d try the red. [click to continue…]
by katrin on March 3, 2011
Glenn and I were absolutely delighted to have been invited to join other Boston food and wine bloggers on March 1 for an Evening of Chocolate and Wine. Unfortunately, Glenn had a last minute unavoidable conflict. I really missed having him there. I not only look to him for insight on food and wine pairing, but being a former pastry chef himself, I am certain he would have enjoyed it. Organized by Boston Chocolate Tours, the tasting explored how combining chocolate and wine could lead to unexpected and flavorful pleasures. I have to admit that this is not exactly my area of expertise; I am much more likely to skip a plated dessert and enjoy a port or dessert wine on its own. My previous attempts at pairing desserts and wine have been lackluster at best, but I was eager to learn how I could break out of my mental restraints when it comes to pairing wine and chocolate.
Twenty-two Boston-area bloggers gathered
in the beautiful and elegant Percy Dauber Drawing Room at the College Club of Boston. Our instructors were Harry Silverstein and Dorian McCarron, aficionados and experts in wine and chocolate respectively. Harry owns Red, White & Bleu, a Falls Church, Virginia wine shop and is planning to open a shop on Clarendon Street in Boston called Recipe. Dorian is one of Boston Chocolate Tours’ Executive Pastry Chefs and Chocolatiers.
Harry started with a very basic “Wine 101” on how to taste wine. He led us through his five “S”s: See, Swirl, Smell, Sip, Savor. Dorian then explained that, just like with wine, there are things to look for when tasting chocolate. Is it smooth? 
Does it have a crunch when you break a piece off? Does it have a shiny appearance? Chocolate, he told the group, is full of antioxidants and is both nature’s Prozac and Lipitor. There are only five ingredients in chocolate: cocoa liqueur, cocoa butter, sugar, soy lecithin, and vanilla. Anything beyond this is not real chocolate. Aside from the first chocolate, all of the samples were made by Dorian’s favorite producer, El Rey Chocolates from Venezuela.
But enough of the talking. Let’s get to the tasting the six pairings!
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by katrin on February 1, 2011
Rodney and I were more than delighted to accept a recent invitation to a seminar exploring “The Bliss Factor” of the perfect food and wine pairing. Held at Jasper White’s Summer Shack in Boston on January 27, the seminar featured two wineries and an expert on oysters from around the world.
I have to admit that I know very little about oysters. I like them, but invariably rely on the advice of the people I’m sharing a meal with or the waitstaff when it comes to making a selection from the raw bar. But Rowan Jacobsen might change all that. The author of A Geography of Oysters and the recently-published American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields, Rowan spoke knowledgeably about how – as with wine – the origin of the oyster influences its flavor. For this particular tasting, four of the five oysters came from Washington state and one from Cape Cod. Their flavors had an incredible range, from creamy to briny to earthy. With Rowan to guide us through the origins and profiles of these oysters, I began to understand, and want to learn more about, oysters.
The oysters were paired with three wines from The Crossings winery in Awatere Valley, located in the Marlborough region of New Zealand’s South Island, and two Pinot Grigios made by Barone Fini in Italy’s Trentino-Alto Adige. It was a real treat to have The Crossings winemaker Matt Mitchell and Barone Fini’s President Giovanni Bonmartini-Fini at the seminar to talk about their wines.
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by eleni on November 27, 2010
Thanksgiving always brings together a miscellaneous group at our house. Relatives that aren’t really relatives (although they bear striking resemblances), friends, and whomever else we discover who doesn’t have plans. To keep the younger crowd entertained, I decided to spice things up and try a beer tasting. I recently discovered Burt’s Better Beers and headed over to see what I could come up with. The clerk hooked me up with Burt when he heard my plan. The lineup:
Rogue Juniper Pale Ale (incidentally it’s the “Official Beer of the National Turkey Federation”), Allagash Dubbel Belgian Style Ale (Maine), a “Snakebite” we used Samuel Smith’s Organic Cider with Shipyard Blue Fin Stout, Rogue Chipotle Ale, and Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin. I decided on the order so blame me if you disagree. [click to continue…]
by rodney on January 14, 2009
After spending two years (and thousands of dollars) studying wine at Boston University, tonight’s dinner consists of a hot dog and a glass of Merlot. You’re probably saying to yourself, “A fool and his money are soon parted“. That is generally the case with me, except this time.
The hot dog is a grilled Omaha Steaks Gourmet Frank on a fresh toasted baguette with diced Vidalia onions and lavender mustard with wildflower honey. The Merlot is a cherry, plum, pepper, herbal 2005 Duckhorn with mild tannins. Not the details you were expecting, I suspect?
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