Chocolatier Wine Company–Candy in a bottle?

Sometimes when I do research on these products for my reviews, I really want to reach out to the companies and say “What were you thinking?” when designing your website?

Before I get into my review of Chocolatier Chocolate Turtle, I’m finally going to do just that.

For the record, I get that S&B isn’t the flashiest or nicest.  I’ve tried to get Alby to help me out with design, but that hasn’t come about  yet.  That being said….I also do this for FREE.  NO Sponsors, No Revenue, No shirts – No shoes – NO DICE. 

The same can’t be said of the very basic Chocolatier Wine website.

First – Update your Domain Records.  Marketed/Distributed by Fire Tail Brands, you own both  ChocolatierWine.Com and .Net, yet your DNS records point to .Net first.  It’s a nitpick I know….but still.

Also, why is your website not on the bottle?  This is the information age, and people (like me) do like to read about what they are drinking, or provide Feedback.  Don’t force us to Google.

Finally, remove the animated gifs.  The approaching bottles on index page could be done so much better in Flash (if you have to have them) and the walking stick figure “Logo” at the bottom is just annoying.  It looks like it was done in a 9th grade Computer Class.

Just those little things could help a lot, but I would suggest a complete overhaul of the site.  Bring it into 21st Century.

Now – On to the product.

This isn’t our first jump into Chocolate Beverages – in 2.011 we reviewed both Adult Chocolate Milk and ChocoVine (and yes, I now know ChocoVine has a dead image – it’s apparently become corrupted so I will have to redo – my own personal pet peeve).

Both were interesting products I wondered how they would compare to Chocolatier’s Chocolate Turtle.

• Appearance – An off beige or eggshell color, the wine appeared rather viscous and clings to the side of the glass.
• Nose –A heavily Chocolate (obviously) base, that does not overwhelm the caramel and nutty (walnut/pecan) tertiary scents.
• Taste – While somewhat reminiscent of Bailey’s in appearance, the unique texture (velvety and thick) creates it’s own unique character.  Carrying the nose over into the flavor – there is no surprise to the frontloaded chocolate and caramel taste, followed by hints of cream, nuttiness (think a good pecan pie) and a light white chocolate finish.

This would make an interesting dessert wine, especially with a light cherry torte or vanilla ice-cream. 

The price point is good (under $15) and it definitely has value, especially on Romantic Dinner night (Valentine’s Day is coming), although I doubt I would keep a bottle around for all occasions. 

I would definitely rate this better than Adult Chocolate Milk, and on par with ChocoVine (possibly better if I drank them head-to-head). 

I don’t know how far distribution is, or regions of availability, but this is definitely worth picking up – if just for the novelty.

Solid 3 Stars.