Remember when we found out that it was OK to eat chocolate? I mean when we were told that a little dark chocolate could be good for us? And remember that countless companies started producing dark chocolate, and everyone started raving about anything with a higher cocoa content. As usual with fads, a lot of it was hype. Just because 70% is written on a label, doesn’t mean the chocolate is good. Now, a few years later, many of us have learned that lesson.
Another element in chocolate development was “fair trade.” Many people gobbled chocolate in order to help farmers at remote cocoa farms. And they did help. But again, not all of that chocolate was great.
Times have changed, and now we can get very good high-percent cocoa and fair trade all in one chocolate bar. Theo from 3400 Phinney Chocolate Factory has a selection of 45%, 50%, 70% plain and flavored chocolate bars that are incredibly tasty and wonderfully chocolaty. Some friends recently brought us a selection and so far I’ve tried the Bread & Chocolate, Hazelnut Crunch and Cocoa & Curry. One the clever ways Theo enhances their chocolates is by sprinkling some of the flavors with just enough salt to boost the chocolatiness (is that a word?). Very trendy – think salted caramel — and it works. (Thanks Beni & Matt.)

When Chopin Vodka from Poland became widely available in the US, it was the first time I’d had a potato vodka I liked.
Because it had been some years since I’d really considered Chopin, I was interested when I heard they had a created a tasting kit which offered not only their traditional potato vodka, but also their wheat vodka and their rye. Each one is very smooth, but with marked differences in aromas and flavors.
Chopin’s black-topped potato vodka is the most neutral, with a slowly evolving flavor tinged with sweat pear and honey – on the whole a rounder flavor – with a mildly forceful alcohol finish.
The gold-capped Chopin wheat vodka was the least appealing at first, with a faint bitter aroma I identify more with chemicals than with spices. Toffee appears on the palate, and a bit of caraway infuses the finish.
The red-capped Chopin is actually rye, with a faint floral aroma. There’s a nice jelly-on-buttered toast element that deepens on the palate, into a very smooth version of rye whiskey.
AND if you’re in Poland, you can visit the distillery!

Chianti Classico. Originally a medium to light-bodied red for every-day dinners. Now a somewhat finer wine experience after years of upgrading quality in these vineyards and wineries in Tuscany. Chianti Classico is now a medium-bodied red with great aromatic components and lovely, rounded flavors backed by just enough structure to make you want to drink more –with food, of course. What vintages? You can find 2008 on the market along with 2009. It’s OK to hold either one for a few years, but start sampling them now. (Many are under $20.) Food pairings include lightly sauced pasta, game birds and plain roasted meat.

Alsace wine for everyday: Remember these are the dry, white wines that are made to go with winter foods: pork, poultry, beef dishes, mild sausages, potatoes and other foods on the hearty (but not spicy) continuum. Whites include: Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, and Gewurztramer. Had dinner with Anne Laure Helfrich this fall, and was reminded how much I like this region. Her family’s wines are affordable, too, in the $15 range.

Chateau Musar: Lebanon’s most famous winery is more French in style, whether they use Bordeaux, Rhone or Lebanese grapes. Their vintage-dated Red “Musar” tends to be cabernet sauvignon with cinsault and carignan, ranging from spiced herbs to silken earth when you taste from 2005 back to 1999 ($50-$65). Or start where Musar begins: with their red “Hochar” wine ($28), a similar blend, with fruit and spice on the palate; 2009 is the current vintage. Not having had this in Lebanon, I’ll stick to foods I know for pairings: herbed stews and winter soups, perhaps lamb and poultry too.