Last week Jen, Jill, Limey and I went to a wine and chocolate pairing class at 404 Wine Bar. The class was put on by I Wish and we’d purchased tickets from Groupon. The Groupon was actually just for a wine class, but we were having problems scheduling a date in Chicago (not the suburbs) and I Wish was nice enough to let us transfer the ticket and take the wine and chocolate pairing class.
We learned about pairing different kinds of wine with the different kinds of chocolate. How to complement and contrast the flavors and that sort of thing. My favorite pairing was a Santa Christina Sangiovese with dark chocolate. The wine was very fruity and cherry-like and mixed together it tasted just like a cherry cordial. I should note that this was Jill’s least favorite wine. She actually dumped it out. Ha! She has a thing about fruit. Jen and I were teasing her and Limes from across the table. Hence the thought balloons above.
I really liked this wine: Proyecto Garnachas de Espana
I thought the class was fun enough at the discounted rate ($20). We learned a few things and had an enjoyable lesson. I don’t know if I’d ever pay the full price for the lesson, $45 seems overpriced to me, but I guess that’s why we got the Groupon!
On a side note, you may recall that this is the second I Wish class I’ve taken. Jen and I went to a Korean culture and food class earlier this year.
Since our class was in a side room at 404 Wine Bar and we hadn’t eaten dinner yet, we headed into the bar/restaurant to eat. We ordered a bunch of things and split them:
- Housemade tapenade with crostini
- 3 cheese plate with cranberries, grapes and honey almonds
- Sauteed Maine sea scallops
- Wild mushroom ravioli with a truffle cream sauce
- Fish tacos (from Jack’s Bar & Grill, which is attached to the wine bar)
- Chocolate fondue served with pound cake and apples
Everything was really delicious. Everyone agreed. We also agreed that we all loved the mushroom ravioli. SOOOO good. Also, how appropriate that we both started and ended with chocolate?
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