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Tasting
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Wine & Food
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 Chukar Cherries:
Sweet & Savory
Pairings
12 New Tasting Rooms to visit
 red wine & chocolate weekends
SWEET
& SAVORY
festive bites
writer
John Vitale
We delve into
food and wine
pairings with edibles
made using fine
chocolate and local
fruits, along with
a medley of
all-natural
ingredients
Tasting
Room
food & wine
Cabernet chocolate-covered
cherries and assorted handmade
delicacies from Chukar
Cherries will transform your
table into a festive holiday
f
or Chukar Cherries founder and CEO Pamela
Montgomery, success hasn’t always tasted sweet. But
that never deterred this down-to-earth entrepreneur
whose natural gift for pleasing people’s palates
includes the invention of the wildly popular Cabernet
Cherries, a Cabernet-flavored dark chocolate coated
lavishly around a dried cherry, producing a richly
balanced mouthful of sweet and tart. Best of all, it goes
fabulously with red wine.
Chukar’s roots began in the 1980’s when Montgomery
borrowed a friend’s vegetable dehydrator to try her hand
at making dried cherries to put to good use the unpicked
fruit from her struggling cherry orchard. It was pure
innovation. Nobody else at that time had yet introduced
dried sweet cherries to a growing generation of healthyfood minded consumers, and word slowly spread about
her crimson-colored natural snacks.
Montgomery spent months researching and refining
her techniques to produce the finest quality and best
tasting dried cherries possible. But it wasn’t until a
visit to the famous Harrods luxury department store
in London when she witnessed their line of chocolatedipped fruits, that Montgomery was seized with the
inspiration to make chocolate-covered confections from
her dried sweet cherries.
Under the talented hands of Pamela and her husband
JT Montgomery (affectionately nicknamed Pa Chukar
by staff members), Chukar Cherries today produces fresh
hand-made gourmet chocolates, delicious dried fruits
and berries, nuts, preserves and spreads, and ships them
worldwide to eager customers.
Chukar goodies are made using local fruits and natural
ingredients—without any preservatives, sulfites, trans fat,
gluten, and nothing artificial.
find it
Visit a retail store or order online at www.chukar.com
Chukar Cherries, Seattle
Pike Place Market in the Main
Arcade. Ph: 206-623-8043
W a s h i n g t o n T a s t i n g R o o m . c o m Chukar Factory Store,
Prosser Exit 80 off I-82
Ph: 509-786-2055
Tasting
Room
sweet & savory
Wine Pairings
We've listed a few wine pairing
suggestions with the tasty edibles shown
in the diagram, but what you like to
drink always takes precedence over
our recommendations. And don’t be
shy about experimenting with classic
favorite holiday beverages such as port,
late harvest wines, even egg nog!
A. Cabernet Chocolate Cherries (best
seller!)
Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Port
complement flavors of Cabernet dark
chocolate with a tart cherry center.
B. Chocolate Blueberries
Merlot complements creamy white
chocolate-covered dried blueberry.
C. Cherry Blossoms
Pinot Noir and Merlot complement milk
and white chocolate-covered cherry.
D. Chocolate Honey Pecans
Pinot Grigio, Viognier, Zinfandel,
Cabernet, Syrah complement honeybaked pecan goodness covered with milk
chocolate, dusted with powdered sugar.
E. Berry & Pistachio Mix
Most reds and white wines will nicely
offset the dried Bing cherries, North Cove
cranberries and dry-roasted pistachios.
food & wine
wine and food pairing diagram
M
J
L
A
B
C
K
D
I
E
F
G
J. Cherry Chipotle BBQ Sauce
Riesling, off-dry Gewürtztraminer,
Chenin Blanc will balance this savory
sauce on fish, pork or lamb and
enjoy medium-heat flavors of cherry,
cranberry, Dijon and Chipotle peppers.
K. Peach Cherry Salsa
Chardonnay, Pinot Gris, Riesling
offset mild savory blend fruits with a
dash of heat, great with corn chips or
fish tacos!
H
L. Pike Market Box
Sampler of Cabernet, Amaretto,
Milk, and Bing Chocolate
Cherries. Check their website
for more gift and basket ideas.
M. Classic Assortment Box
of dark and milk chocolate
cherries: Cabernet, Amaretto
Rainier, Black Forest Truffle,
Classic Milk, Cherry Rouge.
F. Raspberry Truffle
Riesling, Pinot Gris and Viognier
complement white chocolate and raspberry
crystal-covered dried cranberry.
G. Cherry Apple Slices
Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chenin Blanc
complement dehydrated Washington apple
slices soaked in cherry juice, baked and
topped with sprinkling of cinnamon-sugar.
H. Nuts Over Bings
Most reds and white wines go well with
the mild flavors of this energy snack blend
of dried Bing cherries, pistachios, cashews
and almonds.
I. Cherry Pecan Caramel Corn
Try a Chardonnay, late harvest wine or
egg nog with this blend of buttery caramel,
honey-roasted pecans and Montmorency
tart cherries.
JT and Pamela Montgomery of Chukar Cherries
at Seattle Pike Place Market stall.
Wa s h i n g t o n Ta s t i n g Ro o M . c o m