Date: May 24, 2010 @ 2:10 PM

Single Source

I recently had some great, single-source chocolate at the Nimbash event, put on by Nimbus Arts, in St. Helena. (There was good wine at the event, too.)

Their name: TCHO. (Pronounced “choh!”) Doesn’t that sound as if you should then say, ”Geshundheit”?

They are making great chocolate in San Francisco but got my attention when they brought a chocoholic’s dream kitchen appliance to Nimbash. It looked like a KitchenAid but its granite wheels turn cocoa nibs into chocolate! (Take a look at pics of the machine here.) It only has to run for 6 to 30 hours to make a pot of your dream chocolate. I don’t have the counter space but wonder if Chef Trevor does?

I prefer to enjoy wine and chocolate independently. Love both, just not together. However, TCHO (geshundheit!) is making single-source chocolates, and we make single-vineyard wines at Nickel & Nickel, and I am typing this on open-source software while not revealing any confidential sources, any of whom could be a source of inspiration—enough already!

Short version: I think it is harder to tell the difference between single-source chocolates than it is between our single-vineyard wines. But I am biased and have been in a few more wine tastings than I have chocolate tastings. The logical conclusion: I need to be in more chocolate tastings!

I visited the TCHO (geshundheit!) web site and see that they need “beta testers.” I am worried that I may not qualify for a position that interests me. (Haven’t you found that those job interviewers always point out how you “don’t have enough experience” or are “overqualified”? Actually, I may be both when it comes to chocolate.)

While I am pondering if I should apply to become a beta tester at TCHO (geshundheit!), I am wondering what way the entire idea of beta testing could be applied to wine. Techy terms make me nervous; I really want my wine to be simple—and to work more reliably than web 2.0. And, if wine seems complicated now, what would you think if you had to choose between opening Dragonfly 2007 2.01 or Dragonfly 2007 2.03? Would you wonder if your corkscrew’s operating system was compatible with the latest version? I think we beta not . . . but I still love wines and chocolates that reflect the taste and sense of place.

If you find that Zinfandel goes with chocolate, try Bonfire with TCHO (geshundheit!), and call me in the morning.