💝 Find the perfect match for your Valentine 🍷

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Join this month Online Wine Tasting

with a spotlight on

Wine and Chocolate Pairing

This tasting event is for wine enthusiasts to practice flavor description and enjoy the experience.

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I'll take you through a food and wine pairing experiment.

I got inspired by a paper by Italian researchers who tested how various beverages paired with chocolates, which vary in cocoa content.

We’ll follow a similar protocol for the fun of it while reviewing true and less true food and wine pairing concepts.

We will taste two red wines:

A 2021 Rosso di Montepulciano (90% Sangiovese and 10% Canaiolo Nero)
A 2020 Lodi Old vine Zinfandel
An optional 3rd bottle: I got a 2019 Rasteau

We'll taste two chocolate styles:

A dark style, with at least 70% cocoa and,
A milk style containing about 50% cocoa.

you can be as fancy as you want!

What you'll learn with me is what wine pros never teach you

Wine enthusiasts eager to learn more about wine often enroll in professional certification programs like the WSET or the Court of Sommeliers.
While their wine educators are very knowledgeable about viticulture, winemaking, and wine regions, they often fail to help you describe what you smell or taste in wine with confidence.

Sounds familiar?

Wine educators use rigid frameworks and tasting grids assuming everyone would understand each word and concept and use them the same way.

Worse, when you disagree with their wine description, you assume that you’re wrong and they are right.

The good news

You’re also right because there’s no right or wrong wine flavor description. And they are wrong to assume we all smell and taste the same way. That’s discounting how our human senses operate.

Humans vary immensely in their smell and taste abilities due to our genetics and different cultural background. That’s why we speak a different flavor language.

Unlike traditional wine educators, sensory scientists like me are trained to help align the flavor language among tasters, with simple smell training techniques.

And we teach you how to minimize any bias that can alter your wine appreciation.

Imagine attending a wine tasting and sharing confidently your tasting notes with the wine pro.

Not only will you feel happy to share, but the wine pros will appreciate you. So many people are afraid to speak up in front of these pros. But they love when you relate your experience with their wine selection.

Let me invite you to my monthly tutored tasting.

The theme is Chocolate and Red Wine Pairing

Each tasting session is a tutored sensory tasting for wine enthusiasts to practice flavor description with two to three wine styles…and enjoy!

You will learn a proven framework to help you discern typical flavors and improve your enjoyment of different wine styles.

Hi, I'm Isabelle

Isabelle Lesschaeve, PhD

Principal, InnoVinum Academy and Lead instructor

I'm the Founder and Principal of InnoVinum Academy, an online education platform created to demystify wine-tasting rituals.

I teach and coach serious wine lovers worldwide to sharpen their tasting skills using a sensory science framework.

I earned my Ph.D. in Sensory Science from the University of Burgundy, France, and have worked in the wine industry for over 20 years.

Interesting fact

I was born and raised in Champagne, which has certainly defined my passion for sparkling wine.

Fun fact

My grandmother, Pauline, put one drop of Champagne on my lips when I was 6 months old. This event was certainly the determining event that propelled my career as a wine sensory scientist.

Chocolate and red wine pairing

What’s included during this one-hour session?

A review of the typical chocolate and red wine aromas;
A tutorial to practice sensory description of wine and chocolate (it’s different from the deductive or systematic approaches);
Specific instructions to be ready when the live session starts;
A tutored tasting of 2 wine styles and three chocolate types, on-going coaching, and a Q&A session.

By the end of this tasting, you’ll feel more confident in:

Describing the pros and cons of chocolate and red wine pairing
Assessing the pairing that you enjoy the most
Appreciating the flavor nuances of the tasted wines.

Hosted only once this month

This tutored tasting happens:
February 18, 2023
at 10 AM PST, 1 PM EST, 6 PM UK time, or
AT 4 PM PST, 7 PM EST

Registration Fee

US$ 37.00

Places are limited to allow participants to ask questions and interact with the instructor.

Click here to Register

and select the session time

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Is the cost of wine included in the tasting cost?

No, I will recommend 2 wine styles to purchase on your own and that should be widely available.

Which wines will we taste?

I have selected two brands that can be found globally and I will let you choose a third optional one.

What if the wines you recommend are not available in my area?

I will provide recommendations for substitution.

I'm enrolled in a certification program, such as the WSET or the Court of Sommelier. Is this training for me?

Yes, this training is meant for people who are struggling to describe precisely wine aroma.

I’m new to wine. Is this class too advanced for me?

No, this class is well-suited for beginners and advanced levels alike. I will break down the sensory tasting protocol for tasters of all levels to follow with ease and confidence.

What if I can’t join the live tasting?

I will send you the tasting recording so you can follow the process at a convenient time for you. The replay will be available for 30 days.

Making wine approachable is what motivates me to host monthly tasting sessions.

During the tutored tasting, I will teach you how to deconstruct what you smell and taste in fewer sensory components, so you can focus and start to put a name on each of them.

I select wine styles you can find where you live rather than sending you on a hunt for a specific brand and vintage. Wineries do not sponsor me.

My focus will be your sensory experience during the session, so by the end of the session, you will not only have a good time, but you will have learned a process to describe the flavors of any wine.

I invite you to join me this month!