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Seattle chocolatiers rank high in ShopSmart blind tasting

By Eric Degerman on February 26, 2013

Some folks will debate that red wine and chocolate really don’t pair well together.

So why then is the month of February in the Pacific Northwest filled with “red wine and chocolate” events?

And if I want to keep the woman I’m related to by marriage smiling after one of the many scrumptious dinners she prepares for me, then I don’t bring up that discussion when she returns to the couch with various types of chocolate.

Northwest winemakers continue to nail the “red wine” part of that often-winning equation, but there also are several nationally renowned chocolatiers in our region, too.

The March 2013 issue of ShopSmart magazine, a niche product of Consumer Reports, revealed results after conducting blind taste tests on “thousands of boxed bonbons, ranging from $10 to $90.”

The publication highlighted six. And two were from Seattle — Fran’s Assorted Truffles Collection (36 pieces, $50) and Theo Chocolate Confection Collection (12 pieces, $26).

Oregon couple crafts chocolate, wine

A favorite of mine is Honest Chocolates in Carlton, Ore., where Dana Dooley’s kitchen shares space downtown with her husband’s Seven of Hearts tasting room. (Byron also makes estate wines under his Luminous Hills label.) Honest Chocolates also has retail locations in McMinnville, sharing space with Twelve Wines, and Newberg.

ShopSmart, created in 2006, publishes 10 times each year. It is available at newsstands for $4.99.

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About Eric Degerman

Eric Degerman is the President and CEO of Great Northwest Wine. He is a journalist with more than 30 years of daily newspaper experience and has been writing about wine since 1998. He co-founded Wine Press Northwest magazine with Andy Perdue and served as its managing editor for a decade. He is a frequent wine judge at international wine competitions throughout North America and orchestrates 10 Northwest competitions each year.