Valrhona Chocolate:
Discriminating Palate Pleaser  

Use this search box to find the info you're looking for!

Picky palate pestering you? Please it with Valrhona chocolate. They specialize in candy made with fine cocoa beans.

Bittersweet bars with flavor profiles similar to great wines.

Bars prepared with top quality beans from one estate, country or region.

The result is gourmet French candy with flowery, fruity or other uncommon notes.

Dark chocolate candy crafted like a fine wine.

Not just bars. Cocoa, blocks and bars for baking or for giving to your favorite baker.

Also chocolate gift boxes for holiday, corporate or any gift giving occasion.

Not for everyone, but a great choice if you're ready to go beyond bulk beans.

Valrhona

Monsieur Guironnet, a pastry chef from the Rhone valley, founded the company in 1922.

It's headquartered in Tain L'Hermitage, France. They specialize in top quality chocolate for artistes and the rest of us.

Not only do they make chocolate, they grow and research cocoa. The company owns a plantation in Venezuela.

They're attempting to preserve some rare cocoa trees using environmentally friendly methods.

They also work with and share information with other growers.

According to the company's web site, they select their cocoa beans from the top 5 to 6% of the world crop.

These fine beans are then blended to make cocoas of the rarest and purest quality. These cocoas are then made into chocolate products with unique flavor profiles.

Quality is so important that everyday more than 160 people painstakingly taste test their products. (I wish I were one!)

Valrhona Chocolate Bars Grands Crus

What are Grands Crus? Chocolates with unique flavors that reflect the specific environment where the beans were grown.

Each growing area uniquely influences the characteristics of the beans.

Grands Crus are single origin bars made with fine beans from estates in a single country or region.

They give you a taste of the place where they were grown.

The single country dark chocolate candy bars are...

• Manjari-64% cocoa from Madagascar
• Tainori-64% cocoa from Dominican Republic
• Alpaco-66% cocoa from Ecuador

These bars are made with beans from a single region...

• Caraibe-66% cocoa bar made of beans from the Caribbean
• Guanaja-70% cocoa bar with beans grown in South America
• Albiano-85% cocoa bar made with African beans

Fruity, flowery, woody, nutty or acidic flavors that echo their birthplace.

Estate Chocolate

Want an even more exclusive candy bar?

Valrhona chocolate makes bittersweet bars with cocoa beans from the single harvest of a single, select estate.

The best of the best.

That's taking your chocolate a little too seriously for me. Do you want to worry whether your bar was made with beans from a good year?

If your a connoisseur, not just a chocoholic like me, you've got three vintage chocolate choices. So pick your plantation...

• Gran Couva-from the Grand Couva Plantation in Trinidad
• Ampamakia-Plantation Millot in Madagascar
• Palmira-Plantation Palmira in Venezuela

Each choice dark chocolate candy bar has a 64% cocoa content.

But like a fine wine these choice vintage chocolates are limited in number. So don't hesitate when picking an estate!

Interested in which wines go best with these bars? Go to valrhona.com.

Click on the on-line boutique. At the top of the page, click on The Art of Tasting. Scroll down the page to the Wine Pairing Suggestions section.

Baking Chocolate

Interested in some fine baking chocolate? Valrhona chocolate offers cocoa powder and 2 dark bars...

• Cocoa powder-Dutched, unsweetened, strong flavor and reddish-brown in color
• Le Noir 61%-bittersweet baking bar or block
• Le Noir 68%-extra dark cooking bar

Great for the baker with gourmet taste.  Or when you're ready to upgrade your baking.

Dark Chocolate Gift Boxes

Need a unique present? Valrhona has some. How about...

• Grand Crus box of tasting squares-1 to 6 flavors
• Equinoxe-candied orange, hazelnuts, almonds or cookies covered in bittersweet
• Bonbons-candies with various flavors of ganache and assorted fillings
• Estate- box of 6 bars, 2 from each estate
• Orangettes-bittersweet covered candied orange peel
• Mendiants-round, flat pieces of chocolate adorned with hazelnut, apricot and pistachio

Orangettes and Mendiants are traditional French candies made at Christmas time. Definitely different choices for birthday, holiday or business gifts.

No store in your area? You can buy chocolates online at valrhona.com.




Does your palate whine for a chocolate on par with fine wine? Looks like a job for Valrhona chocolate. Overwhelm it with their fine French candy. Unique flavor profiles that should satisfy the pickiest of palates.

Return to Gourmet Chocolate

Return to Health Benefits of Dark Chocolate Home Page