Anyway, once I discovered this stuff, I started to do some reading online to learn more about Amedei and the legends behind the Chuao plantation. I was particularly interested to find out why this stuff was so different from the Valrhona Chuao (2002; the 2003 seems to be better, as I've commented elsewhere.) What I read made me even more curious. It seems that Amedei has the exclusive rights to the beans from the Chuao plantation, and they have plenty of reason not to want to share with Valrhona. Moreover, the Chuao plantation has received an appellation of origin for their cacao, though I'm not sure what methods they use to enforce it, or whether they're actively doing so.

• From an article ([url]http://www.amedei.it/en/gambero_rosso.htm[/url]) in Gambero Rosso, October 2001:

  "The [Chuao Impresa Campesina] agricultural company agreed [in November 2000] to deliver all the cocoa grown in Chuao to the Amedei company for seven years, after which time, Amedei would still have rights to first-refusal regarding the price."

  "In the meantime, Valrhona depleted its stores of chocolate, producing a chocolate bar made with pure Chuao cocoa which bears the following writing on its label: for every bar sold, one Franc will be donated to the impresa campesina in order to support the development and growth of the cocoa. But once all the stores have been depleted, it is better not to trust any Chuao that is not labelled Amedei."

• From an article ([url]http://www.micheleshah.com/index.asp?menu=6&datascelta=&id=160[/url]) in La Cucina Italiana, US Edition, September 2002:

  "It wasn't an easy task for [Amedei chocolatier Alessio] Tessieri to win the trust of the campesinos of Chuao, cut out the middle man and convince Venezuelan government officials to transfer the exclusive rights of Chuao's state owned cocoa plantation to Amedei."

• From an article ([url]http://www.foodgatherers.com/amedei1Valrohnanil.html[/url]) in R+R Magazine, April 2003 (?):

  "[T]he Amedei brand is the only brand that can legitimately claim to have the Chuao bean as part of its portfolio."

  "Eleven years ago, when Amedei was starting out, Tessieri went to Tain L'Hermitage, to the head office of Valrhona, to try to buy chocolate to coat the pralines he was then making. He was given an appointment, tasted samples, met the export manager who explained the philosophy of Valrhona chocolate, but when he asked to buy some he was told no - Italy was not ready to accept chocolate of this quality."

• From an article ([url]http://www.wipo.org/freepublications/en/general/121/2004/wipo_pub_121_2004_01-02.pdf[/url]) in WIPO Magazine, Jan-Feb 2004:

  "In order to protect this considerable national asset, an application for recognition of Chuao as an appellation of origin was filed in Venezuela on August 10, 2000 by Codet Aragua, Empresa Campesina de Chuao y MPC Aragua. The Declaration of Recognition was granted and published in the Official Journal of Industrial Property in November 2000. The grant protects the name Chuao and restricts its use to beans and cocoa products from that specifically defined geographical area, recognizing the influence of climatic and human factors on the quality of those products."

Of course, the super-high-end chocolate world is still pretty fringe, and there isn't a whole lot of demand for investigative reporting. The few articles on Amedei that I found kept repeating some of the same lines (they paid triple the market rate for Chuao beans, only three tons out of each 16,000 tons of Venezuelan cacao are Porcelana, Valrhona's snub of Tessieri in the early 90's), which made me wonder if Amedei had a good PR person helping them write them. On the other hand, Valrhona could just be relying on their brand to keep the sales rolling, while switching to a lesser blend of beans (or relying on an aging stock).

If anyone here knows anything closer to the facts, I'd love to hear it. But I suspect it'll be hard to get the straight story without someone from Valrhona volunteering information, and that seems unlikely.

I don't know; I need to taste them both again and determine a favorite, if that's possible. They're both so good.

What I would add though is that many of these small scale production bars - where the beans come from a small source - are made regularly from batches of beans throughout the year. So it is always possible there will be some variation, that is the nature of fine origin chocolate and part of the joy. Very different to the other end of the market where year on year you are given a single homogenous flavour.

Martin Christy
Editor
http://www.seventypercent.com

Oh no! My Agustus!

PS the Ampamakia 2003 is not at all the fruit explosion the 2002 was, again a rough first impression.

I haven't sampled the 2003 Valrhona Chuao yet, but the 2002 was not as good as the 1999, for me. As regards the source, if three chocolate makers produce a Chuao chocolate, and two of them claim to have an exclusive supply, something is going on - I would be happy if anyone can enlighten me.

Martin Christy
Editor
http://www.seventypercent.com

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So could you please clear this one up for me as I thought id tried all of Amedei's fine collection but your saying ive got more goodies to come, or not possibly depending on the confusion?

And what do you mean at the bottom of your post about the exclusivity thing, are you suggesting Valrhona are not actually using Chuao? and that this is perhaps the reason you say their new 2003 is not as good as the 1999 (what about the 2002, 2001,2000).

Very intriguing im dying to hear back.

Seriously though, all chocolate has a life, and it's not that long - 2 years max? There's no concept of improving with age, as there is with wine. The beans also have a limited life, though I'm sure this is extendable in industrial situations. For the fine chocolate producers - especially with origin chocolate, where the source is a small producer or area - consistent quality is not so easy. I'm not saying every year's production comes from a specific year's beans, but the smaller the source, the more likely this is. Given the limited production of Chuao it is very likely in this case. Hence the case for reviewing at least origin and varietal chocolate on a regular basis, complex blends like Guanaja may not need so much attention.

Excellent as Amedei are, they do have a reputation in the industry for variability in flavour, which may just be because they are on the cutting edge of varietal chocolate. I've not known Domori long enough to judge in their case, we shall see though!

Regarding Valrhona Chuao, given the different claims by chocolate makers to have 'exclusive' rights to the Chuao production, and the fact that Valrhona's current bar is not nearly as good as their 1999 offering, you can draw your own conclusions ...

Martin Christy
Editor
http://www.seventypercent.com

Also, we are not talking wine here, cocoa obviously keeps longer and are we really to believe one harvest exactly produces one years supply? Im sure there are slight differences in taste, as if there would be if the bars were not marked with the vintage at all so whats the point really? Is it just marketing? Id be happy for someone in the know to perhaps come up with the facts on this one as its an interesting one.