The History of Chocolate Though many attempts have been made to cultivate the cacao plant in other parts of the world, the finest cacao beans only thrive in areas where the cacao tree originated, in a narrow band of tropical climates around the Equator, in countries such as Venezuela, Trinidad, Papua New Guinea, and Ghana.

Though there is much controversy on the subject, most modern scientists would agree that the cacao plant is a native of South America. One variety, now called the criollovariety, comes from Venezuela, while other varieties probably originated in the Amazon River Basin.

Many Americans associate chocolate with the Aztecs of Mexico, rather than Venezuela, though the Aztecs did not discover or cultivate cacao, as the cacao tree does not grow anywhere near the high central valleys of Mexico. It is unclear when cacao began to make its way into Mexico and Central America, where in the 1500's the Europeans would discover it among the Aztecs and other local cultures. Evidence suggests that by the end of the first millennium B.C., a Venezuelan variety of cacao had made its way to southern Mexico and other parts of Central America. When the Aztecs conquered parts of southern Mexico in the late fourteenth century, they adopted and extended the uses of cacao. It is believed that in Mexico and Central America, the seeds of the cacao plant, rather than the pulp, first began to be used to make what we might now recognize as chocolate.

Chocolate and wine pairings, the ultimate chocolate indulgence...
Here are some of their recommendations:

In General pairing wines with chocolates is a very complex and rich adventure.

The most important rule when pairing wines with chocolate is to watch out for the distance between the level of sweetness of the wine and the chocolate which should be kept short. The chocolate can be slightly sweeter than the wine and the wine can be slightly sweeter than the chocolate.

If the chocolate is much sweeter than the wine this will only enhance the bitter aspects of the wine and leave a bitter experience. If the wine is much sweeter than the chocolate
this will saturate your taste buds and you will not enjoy the complexities of the chocolate flavors.