When people asked about what I did last Saturday, I casually replied, “Oh, you know, just your average Saturday afternoon admiring art and sampling fine wine and chocolate.” OK, perhaps I don’t respond in quite that highfalutin manner, but you get my drift.
Biagio Fine Chocolate. whose small, unassuming storefront belies an exquisite collection of chocolates from around the world, hosted an intimate afternoon of complimentary chocolate and wine tasting on Saturday. Set in their gallery, with jazz playing softly in the background, it was an elegant introduction to the intricacies of pairings.
A.M. Wine Shoppe, which recently opened up the street, provided the wines for the event. We started with a light and crisp Cava that paired beautifully with the milk chocolates. My favorite was a dark milk chocolate with Tibetan goji berries and pink Himalayan sea salt. It was salty, sweet, and slightly fruity all at once–and the bubbles from the Cava really brought out all of those flavors.
The next wine was Valpolicella, a pleasant Italian red with hints of cherry and currant. It paired nicely with the dark chocolates, of which the dark rum truffles (pictured above) were one of my favorites. Another dark chocolate sample, described by the shop as “unusual,” was certainly that. Made from 100% cacao beans with no added sugar, it was chocolate in its purest form. Interesting to compare and contrast with the others, but I certainly wouldn’t want to eat an entire bar.
We ended with voulet, a sweet Italian dessert wine that tasted like grape juice–only better, and with more floral notes. For our last chocolate, we tried spicy chocolate almonds (pictured below) from Scotland, which were, indeed, deceptively hot and spicy.
We left Biagio that day with plenty of chocolate and wine in our tummies, and smiles on our faces. It was a perfect way to beat the heat and indulge in some of the best chocolate and wine in town–without draining your bank account. I’ll definitely be back to Biagio for more events like this and to pick up a bar of that irresistible goji berry and pink HImalayan salt chocolate.
1904 18th St.
Washington, DC 20009
202-328-1506
The Unpaid Gourmet 