Perfect Pairings

Chocolate and wine taste great together and may be good for you too

Research shows that high-cocoa chocolate and resveratrol in red wine can boost heart health, so what could be better than a festival celebrating both?

After a one year hiatus, Wilmington’s popular Chocolate Fantasy returns as the Wilmington Wine and Chocolate Festival on February 3-5.

“Nine years ago social worker Gayle Ginsburg envisioned a sweet little fundraiser to fill in a budget shortfall,” said festival coordinator Paula Recko. “It was fantastically successful and kept growing.”

In fact, it outgrew its home and beneficiary, the New Hanover County Senior Resource Center. Produced by the Volunteer Older Citizen Action League (VOCAL), made a bold move by re-envisioning the event as a wine and chocolate festival at the Coastline Conference and Event Center, Recko said.

Guests can expect to sip wine, nibble chocolate and enjoy wine and chocolate-inspired art, she said. They can also feel good that the antioxidants in wine, particularly resveratrol, may help protect the lining of blood vessels in the heart, potentially prevent damage to blood vessels, reduce bad cholesterol and prevent blood clots, according information published by the Mayo Clinic.

In New York Times article, “How Chocolate Can Help Your Workout,” reporter Gretchen Reynolds detailed research showing cocoa’s primary nutritional ingredient, flavonol epicatechin’s health benefits.

 “[People who] regularly indulge in moderate amounts of dark chocolate are less likely to develop high blood pressure or heart disease or suffer strokes,” wrote Reynolds.

The indulgence begins with the Chocolate and Wine Festival’s grand tasting on Friday, Feb. 3 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Coastline Conference and Event Center located at 501 Nutt Street. Tickets for this day is $40 in advance and $45 at the door and include heavy hors d’oeuveres donated by Lawler Catering and samples from regional vintners and chocolatiers.

On Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 4p.m., chocolatiers and vintners present samples of their products for tasting and for sale. Tickets for Saturday and Sunday are $12 in advance, $15 at the door and $11 for groups of 15 or more registering in advance on the website or at Harris Teeter.

For more information and registration, visit: www.wilmingtonwineandchocolatefestival.com.