ChocoVine: Female Bliss of Red Wine & Chocolate

4bartenders.com (for bartenders, those who want to be and other scoundrels)

Last year, when my restaurant manager said "try this, it's red wine and chocolate!" ...the ol' Robbie the Robot alarm from watching too many "Lost In Space" espisodes went off in my head clanging "Danger, danger, Will Robinson"!

"Why?", was the question that resounded in my mind, "would anyone want to mix red wine with chocolate?". ...that was, until I tasted it! ...FANTASTIC!

The wine in question is called "ChocoVine"; a superbly blended mix of a fine French Cabernet with a dark rich chocolate from Holland. And "NO!", the chocolate does not "separate" from the red wine when not in use.

There are no alcoholic liquors or drinks on the market that the ChocoVine can be compared to. The closest ones would probably be Bailey's Irish Cream or a Black Russian ...but in both of these drinks, they are not as "chocolate-ty" or as sweet as the ChocoVine. In fact, when you have either of these types of drinks you will feel the "alcohol burn" when you swallow some of either drink.

You have to remember that you're comparing liquor drinks to a red wine ...that's the "kicker". With the ChocoVine, you don't have that "alcohol burn" in your throat when you swallow some; in fact, there aren't any harsh after-tastes at all ...excuse me for saying this: "it's like YoHoo for adults", but with 14% proof alcohol.

Here's my recommendation on when and how to serve ChocoVine:

When: after women's bridge date, after afternoon tea-sandwiches, etc ...and before or in lieu of dessert. A great surprise and controversial subject that will delight all.

How: I found the most appropriate way to serve ChocoVine is to fill a champagne flute half-way with it and then garnish the glass with a split half strawberry (i.e. cut a strawberry in half; then make a cut in the halved-strawberry so that you can "hang" it on the rim of the glass). ...and sip away!

Notes:

- while men do enjoy ChocoVine, more women than men prefer it; hence, my focus on ChocoVine and women in this article.

- there are also a nice variety of drinks and cocktails you can make with ChocoVine; please visit: www.chocovine.com for a listing of them.

- ChocoVine also has a "fan page" on FaceBook

Bar Tip: Champagne Stopper

4bartenders.com (for bartenders, those who want to be and other scoundrels)

There are milestones in life when an appropriate way of celebrating one is by popping the top off a nice bottle of champagne or sparkling wine and toasting the accomplishment ...or maybe just having a refreshing mimosa to accompany your Sunday breakfast or brunch ...or a casual Bellini to start the evening off with a little bubbly. While champagne is tasty to drink, the question is what to do with any leftover that you may wish to drink at another time?

The problem is that you can't use the same cork as the champagne bottle's stopper because it is now expanded into a mushroom-shape once you had popped the cork. Trying to substitute another wine cork in the champagne bottle as a stopper may work (or seems like a good idea), but depending on the amount of champagne and its effervescent bubbled gases may eventually push (or pop) that wine cork out and spoil the remnants of the godly elixir.

Enter the champagne bottle stopper!. This is a little relatively inexpensive device that was designed to cap a bottle of sparkling wine without the worry or danger of pressure buildup within the bottle and maintain the bubbly for a few days longer. The stopper also prevents over-aeration and release of bubbles.The basic design of this device are the spring-loaded winged hinges that grab onto the bottle neck to safely secure the top to it.

It's a good idea to have one or two of these around the house ...and if you work at a restaurant, I'd recommend purchasing 3 to 6 of these. It's a small investment to keep the fizz in the bottle and a tickle of bubbles under the nose.