Winemakers Laurie and Renee of Hip Chicks do Wine paired up with Heidi and Melissa of Roll Chocolates for a fantastic pre Valentine’s Day event at the SE Portland urban winery location this past weekend.
Prior to the event, these ladies of wine and chocolate sat down together to create the perfect sensory experience, matching just the right aromas and flavors of the grape and cocoa. Over a hundred people showed up on the Saturday and Sunday event to taste the results of this epic match up. But how could local chocolate and wine makers not be a winning combination?
The lineup started with Bad Girl Blanc, a 100% Willamette Valley Pinot Gris bursting with dry and fruity flavors paired with a vanilla bean caramel dusted with sea salt from the Oregon Coast. Also from the Willamette Valley, the elegant yet lively Pinot Noir met its match with Birthday Cake. Roll infused Valrhona Ivoire chocolate with exotic Tahitian vanilla bean and added a surprise party crunchy candied violet.
Sourced from grapes of the Yakima Valley, Hip Chicks Malbec is a medium bodied, plummy wine. It paired nicely with smooth dark chocolate ganache flavored with honey and topped with roasted almond slices. Across the Columbia River, Hip Chicks source their grapes from Echo West Vineyard for their Whole Berry Cabernet Sauvignon. Allowed to ferment inside their skins, this method produces a fruit-forward wine bursting with flavors of raspberry and allspice. A big wine deserves a big chocolate: a Texas Red Grapefruit caramel enrobed in sweet, dark chocolate, zested with grapefruit.
Wine Bunny Rouge is an eclectic blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah and Zinfandel. The grapes come to the urban winery from both Oregon and Washington. This peppery concoction tangoes with another unique blend of apricot, brandy and milk chocolate butter ganache, dipped in semisweet chocolate and topped with a fragrant pink peppercorn and flaky salt.
To complete the tasting at their urban winery, Hip Chicks introduced their latest release, the Legacy Tiernan Connor tawny port and paired it with a triple cream French brie blended with Gorgonzola on a raisin rosemary cracker.
If you missed out this weekend, stop by the winery in the next few days. The Hip Chicks will have some chocolates left over and will offer an abbreviated version in the tasting room! You can also pick up some pre-packaged or custom selected chocolates at the urban winery to give to your sweetie (or eat for yourself) on Valentine’s Day.
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