I have a special place in my heart for the chocolate created by Bonnat of Voiron, France. In 1994 when I was on a business trip in Cannes, France, I wandered into the Hediard gourmet store on the ru d’Antibes and spied an assortment of bars from Bonnat. This was my introduction to gourmet named-origin chocolates, and it launched my pursuit of the finest in chocolate from around the world.

Sampler now contains 11 bars, up from 10 the last time it was offered.

AVAILABLE TO SHIP MID-NOVEMBER 2006

The complete 11-bar sampler set (each bar is 100gr/3.5 ozs) features 8 darks (75%) and 3 high cocoa content milks (65%). All of the bars are certified Kosher and the dark bars are certified Kosher Pareve.

This is the perfect sampler to share with a small group of friends for an around-the-world tasting. The selection includes 3 Venezuelan darks (Chuao, Puerto Cabello, and the single-estate Hacienda el Rosario (my personal favorite)) plus darks from Trinidad, Ecuador, Madagascar, Ivory Coast, and Sri Lanka. The milk collection includes two Javanese and one Sumatran.

Bonnat has always been unusual in that they do not add either vanilla or lecithin to their chocolates. The result is a mouth feel that is different from chocolates that contain lecithin, a somewhat more “rustic” feel that is nonetheless very earthy and satisfying. These are small batch hand-made and every one of them rates at least a “Very Good” on the chocophile.com rating scale. The Hacienda el Rosario easily rates superior and even if you think you don’t like milk chocolate, one of the three high cocoa content milks is sure to please.

OUT OF STOCK Samplers are $73.25 each. Limit 3 per order.