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You are here: Home / Charlottesville / Cacao Bliss

February 4, 2012

Cacao Bliss

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After a morning power walk to Great Harvest and a taste of a Raspberry Chocolate Scuffin (heavenly!), I realized I was running out of time – had to shower and eat lunch before 12:20!

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Luckily I had leftover fiesta cups to quickly heat up

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Along with an amazingly juicy grapefruit!

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Unfortunately this was consumed very quickly so I could get out the door to pick up Sara and head over to Thomas Jefferson’s house!

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My friend Natasha works at Monticello and gave me a complimentary pair of tickets to a Taste of Chocolate event at the site. Our day had 3 parts: history, cooking and wine. And of course all three involved wine!

History was first and was led by a representative from the historic division of MARS/M&Ms. We learned all about chocolate’s history and production. It goes from fruity beans to fermentation. Then the beans are dried and then finally roasted when you can crack them open and find the nibs inside. The nibs are then ground into cacoa butter and powder which form a paste. Very interesting!

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There is a whole line of American Heritage Chocolate that is flavored and spiced like it would have been when people first started consuming cacao beans. The American Heritage line comes in bars, sticks and drinkable mix and it all has a rich dark chocolate flavor with the essence of banana, likely from flavors like anise, red pepper, nutmeg, orange and cinnamon that were used to make it palatable. I found the same flavor to carry through all the forms – drinkable, bar, baked.

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The first taste we got was in the form of drinking chocolate, much like Jefferson might have consumed. The spices were very apparent and this was incredible. I had a second mini cup!

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Part I was a cooking demo by the head chef of Brookville Restaurant.

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He made a chocolate mousse out of the Heritage blend for us and we tasted a brownie and Brookville’s famous Bacon Chocolate Chip cookies just for fun. All three were incredible!

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Finally we arrived at the wine tasting!

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We were graced with the presence of the famous Gabriele Rausse himself! He gave us a talk on wine and a bit of the history of his story and Jefferson’s. I absolutely loved listening to his Italian accent, and he made some hilarious jokes as well.

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Each of the three wines were paired with the MARS Pure Dark line – Sea Salt, Raspberry Acai and Chipotle Cinnamon. All were wonderful, obviously!

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The wines paired well – Gabriele Rausse Merlot, White Hall Petit Verdot and the Barboursville Malvavaxia Passito, a dessert wine.

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When our chocolate daze concluded, Sara and I walked up to Monticello and back. I love going there – it makes me feel like Cville is so important : )

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Afterwards we went to Whole Foods, which was slammed, and stocked up on groceries and Super Bowl foods. And tonight Matt and I are going to a birthday party for our neighbor! Going to have a healthy snack now before I go.

Not that dark chocolate isn’t full of antioxidants though : )

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Filed Under: Charlottesville

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Comments

  1. Mom says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:02 pm

    Fabulous and Delicious. What a cool way to spend a Saturday!

    Reply
  2. Ashley @ My Food 'N' Fitness Diaries says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:03 pm

    chocolate and wine tasting?! sounds like my kinda day! 😉

    Reply
  3. Lynn @ the actor's diet says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:06 pm

    Chocolate party!!! I’m about to go to a cupcake one!

    Reply
  4. Averie @ Love Veggies and Yoga says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    Last night I said your Fri night posts are usually my faves of the week but I take that back, THIS is my fave post of the week. WHAT a cool EVENT!!!

    Learning how the cocoa beans go from beans, to dried, to grinding, paste, etc sounds really interesting and then of course chocolate tasting with the wine pairings, with a friend = truly a perfect afternoon!

    Reply
  5. StoriesAndSweetPotatoes says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:08 pm

    So amazing. And then there’s wine??

    Reply
  6. [email protected] says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:09 pm

    The chocoholic in me is so supremely jealous!!!

    Reply
  7. Michelle (Better with Berries) says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:13 pm

    That looks so cool! It would be neat to see how people first thought of chocolate. I’m also going to a party at a neighbor’s house tonight. Have fun!

    Reply
  8. Cm @ Lazy Healthy says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:20 pm

    I went to the Museum of Chocolate in Brussels a couple of summers ago… and I may have eaten an extra large portion of dark minted chocolate this afternoon…

    Reply
  9. Christie says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    Looks like such an interesting and delicious event! Chocolate and wine – is there really anything better?! 🙂

    Reply
  10. Grace @ What Grace Cooked says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:24 pm

    How fun! I’ve always wondered what old-fashioned/historical drinking chocolate tasted like!

    Reply
  11. [email protected] Nutritious says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:28 pm

    That is a dream day, if it included coffee, I would surely be in heaven.

    Reply
  12. Molly @ RDexposed says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    I would have loved the history part! Always wish that I lived in colonial times by with indoor plumbing!

    Reply
  13. Kelly @ Vegolosophy says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:33 pm

    Sounds like a great day!! Anything that has chocolate involved sounds amazing!!!! 🙂

    Reply
  14. jana @ newly wife healthy life says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:50 pm

    What an awesome event! I love history, and wine/chocolate of course, so this is right up my alley!

    Reply
  15. Jen says

    February 4, 2012 at 6:51 pm

    What a wonderful Saturday! Have fun tonight. Are you hosting a Super Bowl party in your new house this year?

    Reply
    • KathEats says

      February 4, 2012 at 10:40 pm

      Nope, attending one

      Reply
  16. Greg says

    February 4, 2012 at 7:13 pm

    I sat on a committee with the author of the Chocolate book. I’m sure he would be glad that you spent the day immersed in chocolate!

    Reply
    • KathEats says

      February 4, 2012 at 10:40 pm

      Oh wow – what a fun connection!

      Reply
  17. Angela @ Eat Spin Run Repeat says

    February 4, 2012 at 7:20 pm

    Wow, what a fun day! I’d love to learn more about wine pairing, and having a little chocolate to pair with wouldn’t hurt either. Yay for antioxidants! 😉

    Reply
  18. ~Christy @ wonderofallthings says

    February 4, 2012 at 7:33 pm

    Sounds like a really fun afternoon — historic places, good smackrel’s and vino…delightful! 🙂

    Reply
  19. Angela @ Happy Fit Mama says

    February 4, 2012 at 7:36 pm

    I went to the grocery store today, too. Bad choice! It was crazy busy especially in the meat dept and chips aisle. Is there a big game going on tomorrow??!! 😉

    Reply
  20. Laura Jane @ Recovering Chocoholic says

    February 4, 2012 at 8:01 pm

    Oh wow, a chocolate party!! What could be better? I find Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are super crowded on Saturday afternoons. It makes shopping there a lot less fun. I like to go when they open at 8am.

    Reply
  21. Lindsay @ Running the Windy City says

    February 4, 2012 at 8:10 pm

    Chocolate is so interesting! I remember seeing cacao trees growing in Costa Rica when I was in middle school, it’s so incredible how that plant is transformed into the chocolate we eat. Craziness!

    Reply
  22. Stacy @ Say It With Sprinkles says

    February 4, 2012 at 8:25 pm

    Any day that involves that much chocolate sounds like a GREAT day to me!…But now you’ve got me craving chocolate, haha!

    Reply
  23. Kristen @ Change of Pace says

    February 4, 2012 at 8:28 pm

    Seriously I don’t know what could be better! What an amazing time 🙂

    Reply
  24. Susan H. @ The Food Allergy Chronicles says

    February 4, 2012 at 8:33 pm

    Wine, Chocolate and a double dose of antioxidants…perfection!

    Reply
  25. Kaila @healthyhelperblog! says

    February 4, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    What a cool event! Seems like there is always something fun going on at TJ’s place!

    Reply
  26. Gina @ Running to the Kitchen says

    February 4, 2012 at 9:17 pm

    that is pretty much the perfect day! wine + chocolate 🙂

    Reply
  27. Michelle @ A Healthy Mrs says

    February 4, 2012 at 9:32 pm

    How cool! Sounds like a really fun day!

    Reply
  28. Angel7 says

    February 4, 2012 at 10:27 pm

    Monticello looks like a really cool place!

    I like to have dark chocolate on-hand in the refridgerator to grab from time-to-time. I always buy the highest percentage of dark chocolate, because I know that it is better for you, and the antioxidants are really good for you as well.

    http://faithfulsolutions.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  29. Hillary says

    February 4, 2012 at 10:28 pm

    I honestly don’t know if I could think of a better way to spend my Saturday!

    Reply
  30. Erika - The Teenage Taste says

    February 4, 2012 at 10:33 pm

    That chocolate tasting sounds like loads of fun. Everything looks so good and that drinking chocolate looks absolutely heavenly! Drinking chocolate is so good – it puts regular ol’ hot chocolate to shame! 😉

    Reply
  31. Ashley @ Coffee, Cake and Cardio says

    February 4, 2012 at 10:35 pm

    What a fun event!!

    Reply
  32. Khushboo says

    February 4, 2012 at 10:36 pm

    Wow this sounds heavenly! I didn’t realise chocolate had specific wine pairings!

    Reply
  33. Lindsay @ Salt, Sun & Sanity says

    February 4, 2012 at 11:16 pm

    I was literally just telling myself the same things about dark chocolate (as a crazily scanned pinterest chocolate goodies). It can also help lower blood pressure 😉

    Reply
  34. Lexi @ Cura Personalis Foodie says

    February 4, 2012 at 11:19 pm

    Chocolate tasting? YUM sign me up for that, and I’ll be there in a jiffy 🙂

    Reply
  35. Jasper @ crunchylittlebites says

    February 5, 2012 at 1:03 am

    yum! Kathy, what are the chances (eek, prices, too) of getting to spend my Saturday with my two friends (Wendy and Kevin) when I come to visit Charlottesville, VA in early April this way?!?!? Is it tough to get a spot for/reserve a spot for attending such an event?

    Reply
    • KathEats says

      February 5, 2012 at 9:52 am

      I’m pretty sure this was a one-time Valentine’s month event 🙁 But Monticello always has fun things going on

      Reply
      • Jasper @ crunchylittlebites says

        February 5, 2012 at 10:26 am

        ah well there’s always next, year?! hehe thanks Kathy! I will be coming up in April and Monticello would be such a treat!

        Reply
  36. Simply Life says

    February 5, 2012 at 6:46 am

    oh what a cool event- The combo of history, wine and chocolate is pretty perfect! 🙂

    Reply
  37. [email protected] Broken Cookies Don't Count says

    February 5, 2012 at 7:25 am

    Wow, that must have been incredible! All that chocolate! I bet you could smell it when you walked in!

    Reply
  38. Katie @ Peace Love & Oats says

    February 5, 2012 at 7:54 am

    That is so cool! I’m jealous of all these neat tastings you get to go to, I mean come on, wine and chocolate?! What gets better than that!?

    Reply
  39. Kayla says

    February 5, 2012 at 8:17 am

    that looks like a near perfect way to spend a Saturday! 🙂 thanks to having chocolate involved.. yum

    Reply
  40. Maureen says

    February 5, 2012 at 11:14 am

    That sounds like the perfect day to me! History, chocolate & wine…could life get much better??

    Reply
  41. [New Balance] Nicole says

    February 5, 2012 at 5:27 pm

    How fun!! And that house is SO breathtaking and beautiful!

    Reply

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    hi! Im Kath.

    I'm a Registered Dietitian, healthy eater, and mom of two from Charlottesville, Virginia. Here you’ll find a healthy mix of real-life meals made from whole ingredients balanced with the pleasures of life, including buttercream frosting and good wine. Plus a sprinkle of nutrition, home life, beauty, parenting, and travel.
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