Russian Chocolate?

We love their vodka and caviar, but have you ever had Russian chocolate?
A. Korkunov started to make his own chocolate in Moscow 1999. It became a big hit and the demand spread abroad. Not having enough capacity to keep up with the demand they have slowly increased the production over the last couple of years and later this year they are tripling it with help of new equipment. After mostly exporting to Canada we will soon have it here in the States thanks to that. If you don't want to wait you can get a hold of it in World market stores, www.worldmarket.com.
I had the pleasure of tasting their 72% Dark chocolate Bar last week and found it delicious. It is a little bit chalky to bite in to but as the chocolate melts in your mouth a great, rich chocolate flavor, with a hint of coffee notes, emerges.
A. Korkunov also offers praline filled chocolates and other chocolate treats. See their full sortiment at www.korkunov.com

Nice Budget Chardonnay

Francis Coppola Diamond Collection, Gold Label, 2004 Cardonnay from Monterey, is a good everyday chardonnay. Eat it with a fish or chicken dish, or sip it on its own. It has a nice creamy texture with some crisp acididty. The color is golden wheat and on the nose you can smell pear and tropical friut. The palate reveals appel, light citus, oak and again, tropical fruit. This is an great crowd pleaser for a budget. The cost is $14 per bottle. This is an easy one to find at the major grocery store's shelves. If you have no luck there you can buy it at www.wine.com or find it for as little as $10.99 at www.wine-searcher.com.

A Brittish Pride

My alltime favorite blue cheese is Stilton. You can eat it with crackers or put it in sallads, soups, as topping, etc. It is a Brittish cheese that can only be produced by six approved dairies in the three counties of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, in order to bear the name Stilton.
It is a blue veined, semi soft, crumbly cheese made from pateurized cow's milk. It has a really nice creamy feeling in your mouth with a rich, full flavor, although not to sharp.
Try it with a glass of port and I'll think you'll have a new favorite as well.

Cheese from heaven

One of my favorite brie-style cheeses is St. Andre. It is a soft ripened triple cream from France. It is made from cows milk and enriched with pure cream. That gives this cheese a very soft buttery texture. It is lush, creamy and ripe, and goes best with a bland cracker.
When pairing beverage with it choose a rose wine or an ale. It is so rich and buttery that it can make a white wine seem sour.
This is not a cheese that you can normally find at you local supermarket. Whole Foods Market is a great resource for cheese and other gourmet food, www.wholefoodsmarket.com. Or you can order it online at www.cheesesupply.com. Reserve a spot for it on your cheese tray next time you have guests over and I promise you will not be disappointed over this melt in you mouth cheese.

My chocolate addiction

As long as I can remember I have been addicted to chocolate. I guess I am what you call a chocoholic.

Growing up my dad always had a piece of chocolate after dinner and of course he shared a piece or two with us kids. But any chocolate was not good enough. It had to be the famous Swedish brand Marabou. It's creamy, rich and yes, addictive. I always ate the milk chocolate kind, not being particular fond of either hazel nut, fruit and nuts or really dark chocolate at that point (which were the other three options I remember from that time). Over the years they have added several new flavors like mint crunch, orange, coconut, cream nougat, etc. Milk chocolate still remains my all time favorite and every time I am home in Sweden I load up half a suitcase of it so it will last me until my next trip back. If I for any reason run out of it before that point I go to IKEA (a Swedish furniture store with several location here in the States) to store up on some more. It has to be tried in person to understand the difference between Marabou and American brands such as Hershey. Although I have to ration it (I can only have a couple of squares per day) I am happy to share it with family and friends to spread the goodness. I think I can honestly say that all of them are just in love with it and every time I go back home I have to bring more and more back to give them each a little stash to last them until my next trip... If you want a bar of you own just check out www.ikea.com. Trust me you will love it too!

Pinot Noir

Last night I had the pleasure of sharing some good wine with a group of friends. One of the bottles we had was from the consistently good quality winery, Siduri. I have through the years enjoyed several great pinot noirs from various appellation from them. Yesterdays wine was not at all bad but a little bit of a disappointment. It was the fairly young 2004 Santa Rita Hills Pinot Noir. Santa Rita Hills on the central coast has been up and coming for the last couple of years and are now one of the most popular appellation in the area. This specific pinot is 73% from Clos Pepe vineyard and 27% from Cargasacchi vineyard.
Looking at the wine it had light ruby color and was very cloudy. On the nose you had spicy pepper and dark berries. Pepper, dark cherries + berries and medium tannins on the palate.
What turned me of a little from the start was the heavy cloudiness. Tasting, it did not have the best balance between fruit and tannins and was a little heavy on the pepper. It might improve over time but I think that is very limited. Now, don't get me wrong this is not at all a bad wine and is definitely worth a try if you enjoy full, ripe fruit in you pinots (which I do). Both Robert Parker and Wine Enthusiast rated it 88. It costs $29 and should not be hard to find. You can find it at www.siduri.com or go to my favorite wine finder site online, www.wine-searcher.com