Bay Club Members Enjoy Port and Chocolate Tasting Seminar
Port and Chocolate are a magical combination and in December, the Bay Club hosted a Port and Chocolate Tasting Seminar, given by Master of Wine, Sandy Block, along with his son, cacao and coffee importer, Matthew Block.
Throughout the afternoon, participants explored the delicious symmetries of these products, while learning about the varieties of Port, the wine’s origins in Portugal’s remote Alto Douro, and the artisan production process for “bean-to-bar” hand crafted chocolates.
Members enjoyed the unique opportunity to learn about these pairings from the dynamic father and son duo.
Sandy Block attained certification as a Master of Wine from the London-based Institute of Masters of Wine in 1992. He is vice president of beverage operations at Legal Sea Foods and frequently lectures at wine festivals both regional and national. Sandy is also wine editor of the Improper Bostonian, a monthly columnist for the Massachusetts’ Beverage Business, and has contributed to the Quarterly Review of Wines, among many other publications. He has an MA in history, and has worked as both a sommelier and vice president of several wholesale and importing companies.
Matthew Block is the founder of Campesino Mateo; importer of coffee and cacao. He has lived and worked on many family farms learning how to cultivate and process coffee, chocolate, and other plants from generations of rural farmers in the time-honored way. He has extensive experience in organic agriculture, having worked on over 20 organic farms and permaculture sites in the United States. Matthew has also farmed on small scale properties and commercial farms in the Pacific Northwest. And in Peru, has worked on over 50 farms in the country’s three distinct climates: the coast, the mountains and the jungle.
