A lot of exciting changes are taking shape at the shop and one of them is finally nearing completion.  Introducing . . .


We've finished a small floor move, creating an intimate 250 square foot chocolate shop in the Northwest corner of the store. This week, we added 10 new chocolatiers to our selection, which now includes over 150 different chocolate bars.  We've also brought in a handful of special chocolate items, like Michel Cluizel chocolate-filled coffee cups, pretty chocolate flower petals from Dolfin (a perfect Mother's Day gift, I might add) and some interesting chocolate vinegar and elixirs to energize your day.  The broad assortment means you'll always find a bar that appeals to you.  For dark chocolate lovers, we've got the full range from semi-sweet to extreme darks over 90%.  For  the milk chocolate lovers, we've got a great new line of single-origin 65% milk bars from Bonnat, as well as a dozen other milk bars to try.  For Passover, there are a handful of bars that are Kosher, and for those with dietary constraints, ask us to point out the vegan, soy-free and milk-free options.

With all of this new chocolate to choose from, our Friday Night Tasting is going to feature 5 wine-friendly red wines and a tasting of 15 chocolate bars.  Come on in and see what's new and enjoy some wine and chocolate while you're shopping.

In other news this week...we've just had a cancellation for Saturday's inaugural Pasta Dinner, so if you're hungry, details follow.  Sara has two great new selections featured in her column this week and there's a fun new way to explore chocolate featured below. 

Don't forget that Passover starts Friday and we have a nice selection of Kosher wines to go with that holiday meal as well!

Get your wine and chocolate before the snowstorm hits this weekend so you can bear down in front of the fire and relax!

See you soon,

Join us as we celebrate the new Chocolate Shop with a pairing of 5 cacao-friendly red wines paired with 15 different chocolate bars.  Many of you have been clamoring to get into our Wine & Chocolate Class where we pair one wine with a specific truffle.  Well, we're going to try and reformat this for a bigger group tasting and have 3 chocolate bar tastes to go with each wine this Friday.  We've got a fantastic new Cabernet from Mountain View that is just perfect for this event, and the newly released 2006 Dominio IV Rain on Leaves Pinot Noir is going to be a knockout pairing with dark chocolate and dried cherries.  We'll round out the tasting with 3 other reds and Nirvana will be reached when you get to taste the new Bittersweet Blueberry bar from, you guessed it, Belgiam's Nirvana Chocolate!  Tasting starts at 4pm.  See you there.  Drop-in Tasting, no reservations required.

 

You knew it was just a matter of time before I got the itch to get back in the kitchen and sling some pasta.  Well, we've decided to launch the Cork Pasta Night once a month and bring back many of those great recipes from Assaggio you all knew and loved. (For those of you not aware, my wife and I ran a little Italian restaurant in Sellwood for ten years and the sampling of pasta was our signature dish).

For our inaugural dinner, we've invited our winemaking friend Alfredo Apolloni, who makes Italian-style whites, Pinot Noir and even a little Sangiovese at their winery in Forest Grove.  The 5 course dinner will include bruschetta, insalata, two courses of pasta and biscotti.  For this first dinner, I'll be cooking up the restaurant's most popular dish, Pomodoro Secco (sundried tomato cream sauce with capers and gorgonzola) as well as a lighter pasta dish to accompany it.  The wines will include some winery club-only bottlings that you will have a rare chance to buy, plus a sneak peek at the soon-to-be-released 2006 Apolloni Pinot Noir.

We just had a cancellation for 2 seats, so if you want to join us, please call the shop first thing at 503.281.2675 and have a credit card ready to secure your reservation. The cost is $75/person, which includes food, plenty of wine and gratuity. 

 

So you prefer red, but the delicate filet of sole you're poaching this evening seems to call for white. Or you prefer white, but Indian take out supposedly begs for red? There are many solutions to this oft-occurring conundrum and here are two:

2006 METHVEN Riesling
This Riesling, like many good Oregon Rieslings, is done in the German-inspired Kabinett style, which generally means that the wine is made to retain a little bit of sweetness. The Methven Riesling is exemplary with notes of sweet white flowers on the nose, some slate minerality and limestone across the palate, a rich texture with complementary honeyed sweetness, and a bright, lemony finish to clean the sugars right off your tongue. The spicy, savory nature of Indian food is balanced by the sweetness and rich mouthfeel present in this wine, so pick up some chicken tikka masala or something curried, a side of palak paneer, some veggie samosas and just add Riesling.

2005 BOHAN-DILLON Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir does have a reputation for pairing with a wide spectrum of foods, from white fish to poultry to goulash, and it's delicateness as a varietal allows for red wine drinkers to stay with what they like and still consume foods with lighter flavors. The Bohan-Dillon is ideal for such fare because while it's wonderfully cherry-driven in it's fruit profile, it also shows stony mineral notes which balances out the fruit and won't overwhelm the more nuanced flavors of white fish. A great way to integrate the flavors and add savoriness to the fish would be to poach the sole in 1/2 C. of this Pinot with shallots and a bay leaf and serve with a mushroom gratin. Or if you're going out, head to the Alberta Street Oyster Bar and drink this with the fabulous Potato Gnocchi, Escargot, Red Wine Poached Hen Egg and Black Truffle concoction. Yummy.