Wine & Chocolate Master Class in the Swan Valley

Wine, chocolate, chocolate liqueur.. does life get any better? The master classes are at 11.30am every Saturday and Sunday, or by appointment at Providore (5123 West Swan Road) in the Swan Valley you can participate in a wine and chocolate master class for $30pp. You’ll try 4 chocolate liqueurs, 6 wines and 9 chocolates PLUS you will get a bottle of your favourite chocolate liqueur to take home. At $30pp this is an absolute bargain!!

Coward & Black Vineyards along with their sister company, the Margaret River Chocolate Company are the fantastically tasty companies behind this incredible 30 minutes of your life. Not only do you get to eat and drink your way to pure happiness but I have to admit I walked away with a lot of new knowledge on all things chocolate.

A friend and I decided to book in for the class on a Monday to avoid the masses and luck was on our side as we were the only 2 participating on this particular day. Unfortunately there was a mix up in their system with our booking and as a result they weren’t set up for us however they shouted us a complimentary coffee at The Margaret River Chocolate company while we waited for them to set up. Free coffee is always a good thing in my books!

Matthew the half Aussie half American manager of Providore took us through the tasting. I was shocked to see how much was included in the tasting, I was expecting a handful of chocolate and a couple of wines, but no make that 10 items to sip and 9 chocolates to melt in your mouth. I actually had to get a little bag to put half my choccies in as I couldn’t get through them all.

We started with the 4 chocolate liqueurs; the original, hazelnut, macciato and the mint chocolate liqueurs. ABSOLUTELY DIVINE! Each one was so chocolatey and divine I knew the decision of choosing my favourite was going to be a tough choice. The difference with these chocolate liqueurs is that the chocolate is in your face and the alcohol hits you at the end. In the end I choose the macciato to take home as Matthew told us it’s fantastic to go in your homemade espresso martinis! Check out their favourite espresso martini recipe below.

@TravelCorkscrew we make ours with 1oz espresso, 1.5oz vodka, 1.5oz Sambarino, 1oz white creme de cacao add ice, shake, strain, drink! Mmmm

— Providore (@Providore) December 6, 2013

Next up we learnt about the international cacao and tasted our way through them as Matthew explained to us the all important ‘pop’ with chocolate (I won’t spill all the secrets!).

After tasting the buttons, we moved onto the 6 wines from Coward & Black and the chocolate and truffles suggested to match these. What I found very interesting and never spotted on the Coward & Black labels before is that the clouds are in the shape of England and Western Australia – a homage to the owner’s heritage. From the Cabernet Sauvignon through to the Chenin Blanc and white chocolate through to salty caramel truffles and dark chocolate lemon truffles I was in heaven.

I was also pleasantly surprised that the chocolates and wines were all matched really well. Who would have thought white wine and chocolate would work so well! My favourites had to be the Chenin Blanc & lemon truffle and the Semillon & Sauvignon Blanc blend with the salty caramel truffle. YUM!

The only downside about this wine & chocolate master class in the Swan Valley is that there are no seats, you have to stand up and let me tell you that the immense pleasure in your mouth will have you week at the knees after each and every sip and nibble!

This has to be one of my favourite wine and food experiences in the Swan Valley, it is great value, tons of fun and truly delicious. Sorry diet, you loose!

To book in for a Wine & Chocolate master class please click here.