The rich, nuanced flavors of fine wine and the velvety sweetness of premium chocolate can be the perfect pairing, but with so many flavor profiles in the chocolate, it can be challenging. I recently attended a webinar, one of my benefits as a member of the International Food, Wine, & Travel Writers Association, and received some helpful tips. Ashley Baumgartner, the Director of Marketing for Country Heritage Winery and Vineyards, led the webinar. She paired DeBrand Fine Chocolates with wines from Country Heritage. DeBrand Fine Chocolates is based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and is a family-owned business.
Country Heritage Winery sent a bottle of their Marquette, a red wine, and Brianna, a white wine, for participants to sample during the webinar. DeBrand Fine Chocolates sent a small box from the Truffle Collection and one from the Connoisseur Collection.
Country Heritage Winery and Vineyards
Country Heritage is a true estate winery with over 101 acres of vineyards. The Lutter family also works with top vineyards to source the rest of their fruit. The family has over 100 years of farming experience, which shows in their land’s care. Country Heritage winemaker Kevin Geeting says, “If the fruit is great, the winemaking is easy.” The company produces an eclectic variety of wines, including fruit wines such as blueberry and blackberry and traditional wines such as a true Bordeaux blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. Currently, the tasting room has more than 40 different types of wine available for sale.
Country Heritage Winery 2018 Marquette
The 2018 Marquette is an estate-grown, dry red wine. The University of Minnesota developed this unique grape as a disease-resistant red grape varietal adapted to cold weather. The Country Heritage 2018 Marquette has complex notes of black cherry, pepper, and a bit of spice. You may even pick up earthy aromas, as if you can taste or smell the terroir.
Country Heritage Winery Brianna
Brianna is a semi-sweet white wine crafted from estate-grown fruit. This light wine is filled with the flavor of honey crisp apple. This wine is the winery’s top seller. It was recently named Wine of the Year 2022 at the Indiana State Fair.
DeBrand Fine Chocolates
Known for its incredibly beautiful presentation and taste, DeBrand Fine Chocolates uses only the highest quality ingredients. When possible, they use fresh, local ingredients, with the rest sourced worldwide. All their candy is made from scratch with centers of crème, rich caramel, ganache, truffle, brittle, and smooth creams. Such a beautiful product deserves upscale beautiful packaging, and DeBrand delivers. This family-owned business has a cult following for its decadent chocolates, which are a work of art.
Truffle Collection
The truffle collection consists of 12 luxurious truffles that are almost too beautiful to eat. Each piece is artistically designed with an incredibly lush, rich inside dipped in premium chocolate. Flavors include dark chocolate, key lime, pecan, caramel, coconut, peanut butter, mocha, macadamia hazelnut, raspberry, almond milk chocolate, deluxe nut, and black & white.
Connoisseur Collection
The connoisseur collection is an artisan collection of chocolates that reach all your senses, from the aroma of exotic spices to the gorgeous hand-painted decor of the chocolates. This is a whole new luxury chocolate experience with unique flavors. For the tasting, I had the opportunity to try the Jasmine, a rich milk chocolate ganache infused with Jasmine tea. I also tried the salted café caramel, a rich buttery caramel with swirls of coffee in milk chocolate.
What I Learned
Here are some of the things I learned during the webinar.
Indiana Wine
The first commercial winemaking operation in the United States was in Indiana. This surprised me!
Before this webinar, I was unaware of Indiana as a wine region. Country Heritage wines start with the
soil and terroir. They do extensive soil testing to determine which varietals grow well in Indiana. It was
interesting to learn which varietals they chose to cultivate, including some I’d never heard of. I had the
opportunity to taste the Brianna and the Marquette, both varietals I had not tried before.
Pairings – Wine And Chocolate
Baumgartner’s suggestions for pairings were spot on. She recommends sipping the wine first, then trying the chocolate, and lastly, trying both together to see how the flavors change. She paired the Marquette with the salted café caramel square and a dark chocolate truffle. Both were delicious with the red wine, which is a more typical pairing with chocolate.
The Brianna is a sweet white wine that is not my favorite. I tried it with an open mind. Baumgartner paired this wine with a caramel truffle and a square of the Jasmine tea-infused chocolate. The chocolate did help to balance out the sweetness of the wine, which surprised me. I still do not prefer sweet wine, but I am glad I had the opportunity to try it.
I am glad I had the opportunity to attend this webinar. I enjoy trying new things. After learning more about Country Heritage Winery and Indiana wine country, I am putting it on my list of destinations I’d like to visit.
More by this author: Discovering Rodney Strong Single Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons
