In another article I talked about how meaningless the phrase “single origin” is when applied to chocolate because there are no organizations governing the use of the names. Anybody is free to get beans from somewhere and call them whatever they want. Thus we should consider using the phrase “named origin” (or AO in French - appellation d’origine) without the “c” for controlled.

A case in point is Chuao, a semi-legendary growing region along the northern central coast of Venezuela (closer to Lake Maracaibo than to Trinidad). Once a major source of some of the very highest quality beans, commercial production has dwindled signifcantly—to the extent that some contend that it would be next to impossible to make commercially viable quantities of chocolate using beans sourced from Chuao.

Nonetheless, there are at least two - if not three - Chuao bars in production and I had the chance to taste two of them: one from Valrhona (65%) and the other from Amedei (70%).

At this distance it is impossible for me to check the veracity of any statements about the origin of the beans. With that said, the Valrhona bar is vintaged from the 2002 harvest (the year 2002 is on the front of the label) and the beans are sourced, the label says, from Chuao plantation in Aragua, the region of Venezuela that Chuao is in. The beans in the Amedei bar are from the 2003 harvest (Valrhona’s bars from the 2003 harvest will be available in June 2004, and the bar given to me is past its “best by” date by a couple of weeks.)

Both bars are smaller than the “normal” 100gr (3.5 oz) bar size. The Valrhona bar weighs 75gr (about 2.5 ozs) and the Amedei bars 50gr (about 1.75 ozs). Like other Valrhona products we’ve sampled, the Chuao contains natural vanilla extract, not vanilla bean. The Amedei bar is slightly darker than the Valrhona, which can be accounted for by the slight difference in percentage as well as differences in roasting.

The Valrhona had a nice crisp snap with some fruity notes on top of a not-too-sweet chocolate aroma. The texture is smooth with some fleeting notes of banana (!) that clear out quickly and are replaced with a pleasantly very slightly bitter chocolate taste that lingers for quite some time in a very nice way.

The snap of the Amedei is a little crisper than the Valrhona, with almost no fruitiness on the nose. The texture of the Amedei is very nice to chew and let melt, and the flavor is very intriguing with notes of tropical fruitiness and caramel predominating - neither of which shows up in the aroma. Like several other Amedei chocolates I have tried recently there is a very slight trace of grittiness when compared immediately with other high-end chocolates, such as this Valrhona or a Cluizel.

These are two very different chocolates and the differences could be accounted for, I suppose, by the normal and expected differences in the years of harvest.

The Amedei has more character with its fruity/caramel flavors, but it may be too fruity for many. The Valrhona is more refined, in a way, with only a touch of fruitiness. Both chocolates rate Very Good on the chocophile.com rating system.

For general eating, I would choose the Valrhona, but if you want a taste adventure then pick the Amedei.