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Truffles and Wine

My husband was wrapping up a meeting in Boston yesterday, when he stopped by Au Chocolat and picked up a wine sampler box of mixed truffles from Belgian Chocolatiers Neuhaus.

He found a collection of truffles meant for pairing with wine. The "sommelier" collection. Maxim de Muynck voted Sommelier of the Year in 2009 by Gault & Milau has designed this collection.

There is some good news for beer lovers. Two beer selections made into the booklet for a pairing recommendations.

He chose Lindemans Framboise for the Suzanne. It makes sense being a Belgian beer paired with Belgian chocolate truffles. Also raspberry on raspberry flavor profiles for both the chocolate and the beer.

However, to many beer lovers Lindemans is like "Kool-Aid." While it tastes awesome and is perfect for desserts and is very interesting for what can be done with beer, it tastes nothing like what we would consider traditional beer. However, for chocolate this is not the wrong way to go as it is very much like a dessert on it's own.

Lambics are a style of beer classic to Belgium made by a process called spontaneous open air fermentation. I am sure many beer geeks can break this process down better than I can, so I will spare you all the geek talk, but it's basically beer fermented by wild yeast in the air and other funky bacterias. This particular beer is then dosed with 500 lbs or more of various fruits and sugar. These are known as lambics which are wild ales. Many different styles have similar processes such as geueze, and other Belgian sours or unsweetened lambics. Lindemans happens to be the fruitiest, sweetest, and most palatable to the average person.

The other beer recommendation was Mc Chouffe from Brasserie d' Achouffe in Belgium. This is a spectacular Belgian-style brown ale which is unfiltered and then re-fermented in the bottles or a process known as bottle conditioning. It's an 8% abv beer with big sweet malts, a bit roasted, and fruity. Perfect for desserts and chocolate.

When Maxim chose this beer for the 1875, this made perfect sense with the cinnamon biscuit center of the truffle. The cinnamon and the toasted biscuit flavors.
 

I chose Heron Pinot Noir Vin de Pays de la Mediteranée to go through the truffles with. Next time I will take a collection like this and take to a wine bar and work out various combinations with wines. Otherwise it's unrealistic to sit here on my own and crack open various wines to fit the suggestions of the sommelier.
 



The Suzanne; Infused chocolate ganache with raspberries.

Light subtle flavors of raspberries on the  soft centered ganache, waxy chocolate shell, dried bits of tart raspberries on top.

Works lovely with the Heron Pinot Noir. Allows some drier woody, and more tart notes to come out on the wine. Tames it makes it a little earthy.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Cuvee Sakura 2003 raspberry and cherry wines from Roisin, Belgium

Lindemans Framboise Raspberry Lambic, Belgium

Zéro Pointé Rosé, Loire, France

Bugey-Balivery Cerdon Sparkling wine, Bugey, France




Grand Place; Dark chocolate shell coated with sugar with a soft ganached hinted with nigella.

Nigella is a spice that is mainly used when cooking Indian flat breads, such as naan, and vegetarian dishes.

The spice has a strong taste that is similar to oregano.

The Nigella spice is the seeds of the plant called Nigella Sativa. The seeds are tiny and black in colour. The seeds themselves don’t have much of an aroma but the oregano aroma is released when the seeds are fried or crushed. The taste is a bit like cracked pepper and is bitter.

Via Curry Focus


Deep rich chocolate shell, once again waxy mass produced taste, but extremely soft ganache center with big sweet caramel notes and a peppery nigella taste, sweet lingering sugar notes from the chocolate.

Works fairly good with the Pinot Noir. A bit borderline meaning there was almost too much alcohol overbearing on the palate. The major indications that you have a wrong pairing with wine and food. Same rules apply for beer. But still fairly good pairing.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Ojai Santa Barabra 2006 Syrah California.

5 year old Malmsey Blandy Madeira, Portugal.

Commandaria Ekto or Keo Sweet dessert wines, Cyprus

Marsala Vecchio Samperi de Bartoli, Italy




Criollo; Bitter dark chocolate with a fresh butter cream center.

Bitter, sweet, dry, soft center, still has a waxy taste that so far all of the truffles have had. Roasted cocoa and coffee notes underneath this trademark waxy taste.

Works very well with the Pinot Noir. Enhances the wine to be more earthy, but the bittersweet chocolate lingers on the palate to be fairly dominant.








Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Darroze Bas Armagnac, France

Ojai Santa Barbra Syrah, California

A generic recommendation of Bordeaux wines from the left bank.



Ganache Amère; "A happy marriage of the sweetness of créme fraîche and the magic power of chocolate, with a sublime, pure bitter flavour."


Sweet, rich, same waxy taste, roasted cocoa, slightly spicy in the beginning.

So far it works the best with the Pinot Noir. They tame each other. The rich sweet chocolate is toned down by the earthy wine, but the creaminess allows them the marry instead of contrast. The earthy notes on the wine tone down and let spicy characters come out.

Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Monastrell Dulce, Alceno

Pedro Ximénez, Toro Albala, Spain

Monastrell Dulce, Alceno, Spain

Maury Vintage, Dessert wine, France



1857; Milk praline with cinnamon biscuit-y center known as speculoos.

Light, milky creamy taste coupled with the same waxy taste, crunchy center, light cinnamon hints.

Works okay with the wine. It's borderline. The crunchy center wants to clash with the wine, but the creamy, milky chocolate taste recovers it and rounds out the wine stopping it from being a wrong pairing. It's not exact, but it's not bad either.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:


Mc Chouffe, Brown, strong ale, Belgium

10 year old Grant Burge Tawney, dessert wine, Australia

Domaine des Rosiers, Confidence 2005 vintage, France




Sapho; Milk chocolate with almond praline center.

Basically a milk chocolate shell with a super soft almond-chocolate center. Kind of like giandja made with hazelnuts. Same waxy taste, but a hit of pepper up front. The waxy taste makes it practically no different than gianduja since this waxy hallmarks has hazelnuts. It's just a bit butterier than gianduja.

This works really well with the Pinot Noir. It's all about the nuttiness playing off the earthiness, and creamy texture smoothing out the alcohol edges of the wine. This was pretty good. Not exact, but very close.







Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Neipoort or Burmester tawny port, Both from Portugal.

Chȃteauneuf du Pape or a Domaine Gremenon La Mémé 2006, France




Galerie; Caramel center, with chocolate center in a chocolate shell.


Salty and very gooey caramel with a thin layer of a chocolate ganache in the center gives off sweet and salty contrast, but that same damn waxy chocolate taste overtakes the lingering palate.. This would have been the best balanced truffle if it wasn't coated with this generic chocolate shell. That waxy taste ruins the balance.

The wine works well with the pairing based on all other descriptions from the previous truffles. It's creamy and salty and the butters work well with the earthiness of the wine. The sweet chocolate brings out more of the earthy flavors.








Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

East India Solera de Lustau, Sherry, Spain

Neisson Rhum Agricole, Rum,  Martinque

Rivesaltes Ambré, Domaine de Rancy, France

Domaine des Rosiers, Confidence 2005 Vintage, France

Generic recommendation of Red Bordeaux from the left bank, France

Le Chȃteau La Rame, Cuvee La Charmille, I ères Cȏtes de Bordeaux, France



Passion Amande; White chocolate shell, cocoa butter, sugar, and caramlized salted almonds.

This is basically a white chocolate shell with soft chocolate and minced almond center. Barely salty, barely noticeable almonds, and it tastes like gianduja more than it does almonds.

Having said that, it's creamy, and the white chocolate is not over powering with a dominate milky or cocoa fat taste. It is like all other truffles in the collection, waxy and nutty. I wish the almonds were not minced to a finite crunch. There is no sense of caramelized anything let alone being barely salty enough to handle the chocolate.






Maxim de Muynck Suggestions:

Bartoli Moscato del panteliria, Italy

Chȃteauneuf du Pape or a Domaine Gremenon La Mémé 2006, France

Le Chȃteau La Rame, appelation Sainte Croix du Mont, France



More specific wine pairings:


Elysium Black Muscat

Suzanne

Grand Place

Criollo

Passion Amère



Oloroso Sherry

Sapho

Passion Amande

1857

Galerie


Overall this is a decent collection to share with friends. But you might have noticed my impatience with this collection. It's all same-y, and mass produced. The trademark waxy quality on these truffles leaves little to be desired. It's an odd milky, waxy, and nutty (hazelnut) flavor that permeated all of the truffles. This is a hallmark I have noticed on other Belgian chocolates as well. I am not sure if it's because it's mass produced with additives and preservatives or if it's just from blending chocolates. The single origin bars from Neuhaus are spared of this effect.

I am wondering if it's just a Belgian hallmark in general. I have been noticing regional hallmarks lately. England chocolate bars tend to be a lot sweeter than the American, French, and Italian versions. European chocolate in general tends to be milky, and creamier Especially with Swiss, German, and Belgian chocolates.

It also could be because these came in a sealed mass produced collection box. I am willing to bet if these truffles were made fresh and bought from a tiny shop in Belgium it would taste worlds different. It's always different when you are traveling and in the moment.

Still fun none the less trying to figure out which one of these truffles would end up clashing with the wine I chose. Interestingly enough none of them did clash, though a few came close to not working.

Get some wine, get some friends and crack open a box of truffles. Even if you don't choose Neuhaus, there are plenty of truffle makers locally you can chose from and go from there.

Tonight's focus was all about wine, and while I will always worship wine and chocolate, I am going to say that beer and chocolate is much cooler to work with and much more interesting finding out why things work and why they may not have worked. I love vino, but I am always going to be a beer girl at heart.

Mast Brothers ~ Dark Chocolate + Almonds, Sea Salt, Olive Oil

Once again I am dealing with the chocolate makers who have some of the finest wrapping paper in the business for their chocolate bars. A lovely fleur-de-Lis print.

Mast Brothers in Brooklyn, NY. Dark Chocolate + Almonds, Sea Salt, and Olive Oil. Using Madagascar cocoa beans and handmade techniques to make some fine bean-to-bar offerings.

Something I have come to love about the Mast Brothers, is subtly. I have had their chocolate before and I have requested more for review. My buddy Shane Welch of Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn, often hooks me up with Mast Brothers Chocolate. But having their Dark Chocolate + Sea Salt or their Dark Chocolate + Salt and Pepper, the balance is soft and delicate on these bars. The salt is present but never overwhelming and the pepper on the salt and pepper bar is unique and worked incredibly well with chocolate.

There is also another connection to Mast Brothers that I fully support. It's their motto of American Craft. As someone who works in the craft beer industry, the idea of American Craft is something I fully appreciate and understand. Our bean-to-bar producers in the US are really coming around and making some unbelievably good chocolate. The rest of the world should sit up and take notice. As they should sit up and take notice of our craft beer scene. It's the best in the world!

Type: Flavored, Bittersweet, 72%

Bean Varietal: Unknown, Madagascar beans

Ingredients: Cocoa, cane sugar, almonds, sea salt, olive oil.

Appearance: Smooth and shiny surface, almond covered underside a few streaky lines on the underside with the almonds, simple non-monogrammed molding.

Score: 93

Snap: Light, airy snap. Firm, but relatively light with an audible snap sound.

Score: 91

Aroma: Dry roasted cocoa, slight medicinal, slightly tarry, a light tart and astringent aroma.

Score: 93

Taste: Salty almonds, tart cocoa, hints of cherries, astringent cocoa, medicinal notes, and hints of tar.

Score: 96

Texture: Smooth creamy chocolate with medium melt time, with crunchy, salty almonds.

Score: 94

I don't know if I am all the way sold on the Mast Brothers using Madagascar beans as their primary base for their bars, but in this case I am very sold. The tart and astringent cocoa was balanced by the salty almonds. The nutty taste of the almonds and the salt really interact well with the brightness of the cocoa and the cherry flavors and medicinal tar flavors. Harder to detect any discernible wood flavors like cedar which is classic for a lot of Madagascar beans due to the almonds, but the almonds are a welcomed flavor.

This is a delicious bar of chocolate and very easy on the eyes with the gorgeous almonds. But unfortunately without the almonds I believe this bar of chocolate would be unbalanced. I think they need a little more work in taming these Madagascar beans. Also the almonds helped tone down a bit of the tar characters and minty medicinal notes. It's still there on the taste, but thanks to the salt and almonds, it's covered up pretty good. Or a better way to look at is is that those flavors are blended into the background more.

Still, this was very enjoyable. I enjoyed crunching this one up. I love salted almonds and these were just right on this bar.

Final Score: 93.4

score
A-

Fine & Raw ~ Bonbon Bar

Oh yes! A bar of chocolate made with all natural ingredients and filled with a truffle center.  The Bonbon bar. Word to your moms!

This bar was given to me by my friend Emily Shartin, the chocolate buyer of Formaggio Kitchen. She wanted me to try a very flavorful bar of chocolate from a solid chocolate maker in Brooklyn, NY.

Fine & Raw is a chocolate company out of Brooklyn using natural ingredients and green methods of sustainability.

FINE & RAW is a fresh new company that believes the future is beautiful. To help bring this thought to life we strive to be green and sustainable where ever possible.

We'll be the first to admit we're not perfect. From the big issues, like fairtrade and carbon foot prints, down to using energy efficient light bulbs, we're learning to be greener all the time.

Our cacao is fairtrade and comes from a small cacao farmers co-op that practices sustainable farming. Cacao is a shade grown plant requiring a foliage canopy to grow. Our cacao farmers maintain the rainforests which provide natural symbiotic canopies for the plant. The farmers also grow an heirloom variety of cacao, which promotes bio-diversity of plant species within the rainforest ecosystem.

All our ingredients are organic, which means no unnecessary toxins, chemicals or pollutants are pumped into the environment. Our packaging is recycled and the inks we use are non-toxic and vegetable based.

We want the planet to be strong so it can grow more chocolate.

I have only had one previous experience with Fine & Raw. I reviewed their Mesquite bar. A strange bar that one was. Funky flavors mixed with chocolate. Bizarre yet fun. It's one of those bars that you have to try at least once and you might not enjoy it just as a bar. I found it kind of odd but then I started to think about melting it down and making variants of Mole sauces with it. It was only after thinking about what could be done with it that I fully began to appreciate it. 

I am not going to lie though. I was mostly excited for the Mesquite bar because of the wrapper. A vintage cowgirl with a lasso. It's pretty bad ass. 

Type: Filled bar.

Bean Varietal: Unknown, beans from Ecuador.

Ingredients: Raw cacao paste, cacao butter, blue agave, virgin coconut oil, cacao powder, himalayan sea salt.

Sample Size: 2oz or 54g

Description:

Dark raw chocolate bar with a thin line of bonbon truffle running down the inside center (2oz).

Appearance: Very damaged. This could come from a number of reasons, but it had a very oily and greasy feel to the bar. The oils in this bar began to separate from the cocoa. The foil wrapper was completely saturated with oils. It has a soft truffle center but the shell of the filled bar was very soft. This gave way to a poor snap character. I doubt there would have been a viable snap character anyway with the soft truffle center. But there would have been a small sound with a crisp chocolate shell. I don't know if this bar is always supposed to be this soft or if some how there was an issue along the way with heat exposure or any other reasons. 

I have had a similar experience with a set of truffles that came to me from Patric. They were Elbow truffles made with Patric chocolate. They tasted so fantastic, but they got damaged along the way some how. They had a matted appearance and a bit of a sunken in effect from super soft truffle centers. It's a hard call when things like this happen. They might look messed up, but still they tasted like heaven. This bar was no exception.

Because of this I am not reviewing this chocolate like a standard bar. I am going to talk about the taste, texture, and aroma. I will give it one overall score.

Aroma: Huge coconuts, almonds, and rich roasted cocoa. Once again, a bar of chocolate that smells like a deeply rich Almond Joy. Obviously the coconut oils impact the aroma. I was hoping that the coconut was a natural aroma based on other chocolates I have reviewed with a robust coconut and almond aroma. But none the less, this aroma is unbelievably good. The bar was so fragrant that my entire living room smelled like rich coconut and almonds.

Taste: Coconuts, lovely hits of sea salt, rich roasted cocoa, nice bitter notes blended with sweet cocoa notes, and slight bit of astringency on the first taste.

Balanced flavors with the sea salt, richly roasted cocoa, and coconut make for a fantastic tasting bar. It's delicious and robust. It has a good balance of sweet salty, and bitter cocoa.

Texture: Soft chocolate shell, a bit oily on the surface, smooth soft center, creamy, melts fast.

The taste, creamy texture, and aroma completely save the day for this bar. I just wanted to eat more and more of it. The sea salt gave this bar a perfect balance. Rich cocoa notes big coconut taste and aroma, bittersweet and sweet cocoa tastes where rounded out by the contrasting sea salt taste. Excellent flavors and tastes.

It may not be totally fair to not score this bar based on appearance and snap, but this is an unusual bar of chocolate as it's filled with a truffle center. I am not sure where the issue happened with it's appearance, but it deserves a solid letter grade based on how good it smells and tastes. It's quite a fantastic bar of chocolate overall.

score
A