Napa
by Van Leer
Impact
Napa has about as much to do with chocolate as Greenwich, CT -- home to famed entertainers, all-star athletes & superclass hedge fund managers -- does low-income housing (fortunately for them, food stamps & subsidies -- the 1%'s contribution to offsetting unlivable wages -- keeps most people in the Bronx). Both Greenwich & the Bronx draft off the other to their own benefit (e.g., subprime mortgages).
Oh, yeah, right, k, got it... wine-infused chocolate. Like drinking & driving, a perilous idea, that often winds up in a dead-end of clash-crash mashups; an accident that already happened.
But exploration is hard-wired in the DNA so for those who insist to scratch the itch, forget fear & uploading logarithms, charts, classifications, spider-graphs & more guidelines on the latest app that juxtapose flavor combinations for the "perfect match". They rarely work -- for dating or food; leading mostly to "appathy".
Just go ahead, develop an instinctive sense for what succeeds or, more likely, fails. And remember, even while in a coma, seriously bad choices can lead to a "teachable moment".
Here's to a happy accident.
Bon appetite et bon voyage.
Autopsy brain-scan after Napa Chocolate by Van Leer?
Oh, yeah, right, k, got it... wine-infused chocolate. Like drinking & driving, a perilous idea, that often winds up in a dead-end of clash-crash mashups; an accident that already happened.
But exploration is hard-wired in the DNA so for those who insist to scratch the itch, forget fear & uploading logarithms, charts, classifications, spider-graphs & more guidelines on the latest app that juxtapose flavor combinations for the "perfect match". They rarely work -- for dating or food; leading mostly to "appathy".
Just go ahead, develop an instinctive sense for what succeeds or, more likely, fails. And remember, even while in a coma, seriously bad choices can lead to a "teachable moment".
Here's to a happy accident.
Bon appetite et bon voyage.
Appearance 4.1 / 5
| Color: | dirt brown |
| Surface: | idealized by The Machine |
| Temper: | semi-gloss |
| Snap: | buttons up; straight edge |
Aroma 7.2 / 10
teases gianduia praliné only to yield to coconut shells, vanilla, heavy wood plank
Mouthfeel 13.4 / 15
| Texture: | silken |
| Melt: | uptempo |
Flavor 40.6 / 50
vanilla -> standard baseline cocoa -> flash red blush, an interruptus causing some wood barks & bite -> calmed by coconut cream expressing more cocoa with a tannic dusting -> brown butter soothes it further to air smoked pignola & pimento
Quality 14.8 / 20
Van Leer owner Barry Calebaut claims "fine Ghana origin". Re: luxury Toyota... bulk-grade cocoa married to bulk grape vino. Neither stand much of a chance on their own.
Together, however, they tell a different story.
Wine gives it more than just a little color alone; it interlines the chocolate so that the duo galvanize those smoke notes at the finale, a combination roast (cocoa) / ferment (alcohol). And just a drop or two (virtually homeopathic) to keep this kid-legal. That's what makes it work. Higher levels of spirit could've amplified the heat.
Sure, the mid-point undergoes some friction but cocoa butter mediates & 35% sugar rushes in to counteract technical flaws (over-roasting; strip conching) & any uncomplimentary flavors.
As oenophiles wuv to say, 'felicitous'.
Reviewed March 26, 2013
Together, however, they tell a different story.
Wine gives it more than just a little color alone; it interlines the chocolate so that the duo galvanize those smoke notes at the finale, a combination roast (cocoa) / ferment (alcohol). And just a drop or two (virtually homeopathic) to keep this kid-legal. That's what makes it work. Higher levels of spirit could've amplified the heat.
Sure, the mid-point undergoes some friction but cocoa butter mediates & 35% sugar rushes in to counteract technical flaws (over-roasting; strip conching) & any uncomplimentary flavors.
As oenophiles wuv to say, 'felicitous'.
Reviewed March 26, 2013