Taste: Chocolate at Monticello

This event is full!

“Chocolate. … By getting it good in quality, and cheap in price, the superiority of the article both for health and nourishment will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America…”
Nov. 27, 1785, Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, from Paris

Join us for a day of pure chocolate indulgence at Monticello! Celebrate your love for chocolate at Taste: Chocolate at Monticello with a full day of chocolate themed events.

Learn how chocolate was a favorite of Jefferson’s and how it was prepared and served at Monticello, enjoy a chocolate-making demonstration and savor several pairings of chocolate and Virginia wines.

Create your own itinerary with your friends or surprise your significant other for a special Valentine’s Day treat. ‘Taste’ includes a chef demonstration, keepsake recipes to try at home, and numerous indulgent chocolate tastings. House tour included.

House tours
Offered throughout the day, included in the price of Taste: Chocolate at Monticello.

Experience: The History of Chocolate
1 - 1:30 p.m.
From Thomas Jefferson’s first recorded purchase of chocolate in 1775 to recipes used in the colonial period, learn about the history of chocolate in Jefferson’s time. See an 18th-century method of making chocolate, by grinding roasted cacao beans on a traditional metate, a heated grinding stone, and adding sugar and spices to provide a variety of flavors.

This ‘Bean to Beverage’ demo includes a demonstration of making chocolate from bean to a hot chocolate drink. At the end participants will have the opportunity to try American Heritage Chocolate, and Pure Dark® Rounds--bite sized disks of intense, dark chocolate with 62% cocoa content, dusted with intriguing taste sensations.

Indulge: Chocolate Today 
1:45 – 2:15 p.m.
Take part in a cooking demonstration with local chef Harrison Keevil of Charlottesville's charming Brookville Restaurant.  Keevil, a  French Culinary Institute-trained chef will create a modern day dessert for you to sample using American Heritage Chocolate. Take home new recipes to try at your table.

Taste: Chocolate and Wine Pairing 
2:30 – 3 pm
Nothing says “indulgence” quite like the pairing of chocolate and wine. Learn about Jefferson’s passion for wine, with winemaker and assistant director of gardens and grounds Gabriele Rausse.
 
Taste three  Pure Dark® specialty chocolates paired with three local Virginia wines and take home an American Heritage Chocolate “chocolate wine” recipe.
   
The Monticello Museum Shop will have tastings and additional demonstrations from 1- 4 p.m.