\nthe American Center for Wine, Food, and The Arts was holding their
\nannual Wine and Chocolate Tasting, billed as "Death By Chocolate: The
\nUltimate Chocolate Festival". Naturally, we were interested.\n<\/p>\n
\nWe drove up to Napa with a couple of co-worker\/friends from China,
\nthinking they would enjoy the drive (and the chocolate) and possibly
\nget to meet up with J and A who were also planning on being there.\n<\/p>\n
\nAlas, the weather was grey with odd spots of rain but it was still fun and the chocolate was delicious.\n<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/colin\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/cocoa_beans.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The wine-tasting part was frustrating for a couple of reasons. One was
\nthat the various chocolates on offer were overpowering for the most
\npart, that I never felt I was appreciating the full flavor of the wine.\n<\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"\/colin\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/chocolate_trance.jpg\")
Another was than I'm not used to wine tasting – I know you are
\nsupposed to taste and spit and to be honest, there wasn't a lot of
\nspit-receptacles available and this place was crowded. I don't think
\nthey were really set up for the formal taste-and-spit process. Best you
\ncould do was sip, taste, then spit discreetly back into your glass at
\nwhich point you had to make your way through the crowd to the nearest
\n"wet trash" bin. So I stopped sampling the wine and focused on the
\nchocolate.\n<\/p>\n
\nOne thing I really wish: 1) that I had discovered the Port Wine
\nvendors upstairs sooner, and 2) that I didn't have to drive us home.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe variety of chocolate goods on display was quite astounding,
\nincluding icecream and also some gluten-free chocolate souffles which
\nwere very delicious and reminded me of my numerous gluten-intolerant
\nrelatives (as well as my own history). I meant to take down the details
\nof the vendor but I seem to have misplaced my notes. Darn.\n<\/p>\n