Nam Lee Cheong Wine and Royce Chocolate Pairing at BIG Publika

Nam Lee Cheong Wine and Royce Chocolate Pairing at BIG Publika

You didn’t read it wrong, it is wine and chocolate pairing and probably with the best of both worlds. I have tried wine pairing with food and the most common wine pairing is with cheese but wine pairing with chocolate is my first.

Wine and chocolate pairing is not new and can be done but it is a complicated process. It focuses on the after taste and it takes a lot of combination tasting and testing before the pairing. It takes knowledge and skill to create such event and thanks to the people from Nam Lee Cheong and Royce Chocolate.

The name Lee Cheong is a household name as the importer and distributor for wines and spirits. Since 1970s, they have been distributing to hotels, hypermarkets, restaurants, retail outlets and end consumers. It has a proud figure of an excess of 1,000,000 bottles per annum.

As for Royce Chocolate, it is one of the most popular brands from Hokkaido. It is one of the best and premium chocolates from Hokkaido with the highest quality. I am a big fan of their chocolates since their establishment in Malaysia.

For the best of both worlds to meet and work together, it is a food tasting session that is one to remember.

Mr. Leong Keng Mun, Managing Director of Nam Lee Cheong, explained the complex art to us in a simple manner. With his vast experience in wine tasting, he brings us to a journey of wine and chocolate pairing like I never experience before.

The first pairing is between Australian Gossips Sweet Lips Moscato and paired it with R Chocolat, a creamy milk chocolate. The wine is a good balance of sweetness and acidity and when doing a wine chocolate pairing, you have to taste the wine first. Then, you take a small bite of the chocolate and taste the chocolate. Next, you take another small bit of the chocolate and the taste it with the wine together. The chemical reaction between chocolate and wine will create a new after taste. The wine will have hints of apricot tasted with the wine. How amazing!

Next, it is Pink Moscato. It has aromas of peach, rose petals and hints of raspberries and it delicately sweet with balancing acidity and a soft fizz with musk and floral flavours.

If you are the conventional chocolate junkie, you will love Royce’s Bar Chocolate. It tastes at least ten times better of the usual chocolates you are having. It lives up the reputation as one of the best from Hokkaido. The after taste of the combination though differs than its usual sweet taste. You just have to try it yourself.

While traveling in Argentina, I heard stories of great Chilean wines. Complicated as it taste, Montes Late Harvest is used to pair three types of chocolate. It is a fine blend of Gewurztraminer and Riesling and it offers a journey of tropical fruity aroma.

My first Royce is their ever popular Nama Chocolate. It has extremely high moisture content and yet it gives an excellent texture. It is nothing like other chocolates you taste before.

The pairing after taste for the Black Bar Chocolate is a reversal of its own taste. Somehow, the bitter taste of the chocolate is reversed while paired with the Chilean wine, surprise, surprise and surprise.

The journey continues with Mild Bitter Pure Chocolate and Extra Bitter Pure Chocolate.

I am not an expert in wine tasting or wine chocolate pairing so I describe the individual chocolate and wine taste better than the after taste. I think it is better for you to discover the taste yourself to bring the surprise elements of these wine chocolate pairing. You just need to buy the wines as I mention here and also the Royce’s chocolates. You can pair it yourself for your own pleasure and discovery but I had a wonderful journey of unimaginable taste of wine and chocolates.

For more information of the wines, please visit Nam Lee Cheong at www.wineshop.com.my, and ROYCE Malaysia at www.royce.com.my for their beautiful crafted Hokkaido chocolates!

Wilson Ng