San Antonio winery in Southern California still makes a wine that has a
chocolate flavor component added to it.(Doesn't work for me but ....)

> wrote in message
...
> About 10 years ago I had tasted a red wine at a restaraunt and it had sort
> of a "chocolaty" flavor or aftertaste, which I found quite appealing....I
> hadn't been eating chocolate, and I know for sure it was the wine that
gave
> me this pleasant flavor....
> Any ideas as to what I may have been drinking?? I am relatively
> inexperienced, like Merlots and Grenache....but that "chocolaty" flavor
> would be a real treat again.....
> Any thoughts??
>
> thanx in advance
>
I often get chocolate and raspberry notes from Australian shiraz. Peter
Lehman's "The Barossa" is a good example.

Regards,
Dean

Agreed. Aussie Shiraz. Most recent example for me was the Thorn Clarke
'Shotfire Ridge'. Isn't it a common characteristic in the Barossa
Valley?

We have found that Amarone della Valpolicella (Amarone, for short) has a
definite chocolate component, although the notes I've seen usually refer to
it as caramel or butterscotch. It's made from dried grapes, so the flavors
are highly concentrated and quite sugary. This is an Italian wine which
should be available at most wine shops (not Super Markets, as a rule).
Prices seem to run between US$10 (Trader Joe's, for example) and US$40.

> About 10 years ago I had tasted a red wine at a restaraunt and it had sort
> of a "chocolaty" flavor or aftertaste, which I found quite appealing....I
> hadn't been eating chocolate, and I know for sure it was the wine that gave
> me this pleasant flavor....
> Any ideas as to what I may have been drinking?? I am relatively
> inexperienced, like Merlots and Grenache....but that "chocolaty" flavor
> would be a real treat again.....
> Any thoughts??
>
> thanx in advance
>
>

Quite a few people that I've tasted with will identify chocolate flavors
in young red wines that have tannins and new oak in their flavor
profiles (some will also refer to mocha). In my experience that
happens most often with young, ageworthy California Cabernets and some
young Bordeaux.

HTH
Mark Lipton

"Midlife" > skrev i meddelandet
...
> We have found that Amarone della Valpolicella (Amarone, for short) has a
> definite chocolate component, although the notes I've seen usually refer
to
> it as caramel or butterscotch. It's made from dried grapes, so the
flavors
> are highly concentrated and quite sugary. This is an Italian wine which
> should be available at most wine shops (not Super Markets, as a rule).
> Prices seem to run between US$10 (Trader Joe's, for example) and US$40.
>

I´d treat an Amarone that cost USD 10 with deep suspicion. I remember
reading (in Decanter, I think) that you couldn´t even produce the juice for
the wine for less than about USD 10. Remember, whole clusters of grapes are
left to dry for about 3 months, leaving about 25 % of the water (if I
remember correctly) ... prices starting about USD 40 is more like it.

And, what´s more, a good Amarone is _worth_ it.

Cheers!

Nils Gustaf

--
Respond to nils dot lindgren at drchips dot se

Mark Lipton wrote:

> Quite a few people that I've tasted with will identify chocolate flavors
> in young red wines that have tannins and new oak in their flavor
> profiles (some will also refer to mocha). In my experience that
> happens most often with young, ageworthy California Cabernets and some
> young Bordeaux.

Yup. I had a '98 Lokoya last year that had a distinctive note
of unsweetened chocolate... I could have sworn it had been added
if I didn't know better.

Dana

> wrote in message


> Any thoughts??

Heavy amarones should do it.

regards
Jan

I certainly have never had a chocolate flavored wine, but I have detected
nuances of chocolate in many wines. The most common have been in
somewhat-internationally styled (low-acid, highly extracted, lots of toasted
oak) Right Bank Bordeaux (so probably mostly Merlot, with some Cab Franc and
Cab Sauvignon).
Dale

Dale Williams
Drop "damnspam" to reply

Dale Williams wrote:

> I certainly have never had a chocolate flavored wine, but I have detected
> nuances of chocolate in many wines. The most common have been in
> somewhat-internationally styled (low-acid, highly extracted, lots of toasted
> oak) Right Bank Bordeaux (so probably mostly Merlot, with some Cab Franc and
> Cab Sauvignon).

That makes sense, Dale, although the most pronounced flavor of chocolate I've
ever noticed in a wine was in the '82 Branaire Ducru when tasted in the late
'80s.

Mark Lipton

I have had a port like wine from France that was the most Chocolate like...

The bottle was a gift from a little restaurant in Monptparnasse, "le parcs
de cerf".

Great place. I went in for lunch or dinner 4 days in a row...then after a
barge trip returned many times.

Owner gave to me before returning to states.

Wish I could remember the name but it was great. I have the empty bottle
somewhere.


"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Dale Williams wrote:
>
> > I certainly have never had a chocolate flavored wine, but I have
detected
> > nuances of chocolate in many wines. The most common have been in
> > somewhat-internationally styled (low-acid, highly extracted, lots of
toasted
> > oak) Right Bank Bordeaux (so probably mostly Merlot, with some Cab Franc
and
> > Cab Sauvignon).
>
> That makes sense, Dale, although the most pronounced flavor of chocolate
I've
> ever noticed in a wine was in the '82 Branaire Ducru when tasted in the
late
> '80s.
>
> Mark Lipton
>