Sweet, rich, seductive.  Chocolate is definitely not just for kids anymore!  If you’re a certified chocoholic, you’ll find a selection to satisfy your wildest dreams at The Curious Grape!  We have the area’s largest selection of the world’s finest chocolates, including:

• The highest quality Single-Origin chocolates
• Sophisticated, flavor-infused chocolates
• Locally-made Artisan Confections and
• An outrageous array of truffles, sauces, hot cocoas, Fudge Fatale, chocolate-hazelnut spread, chocolate-infused dessert wine, and more!

Even better, we offer frequent, FREE in-store chocolate tastings as well as fun, informative seminars on chocolate.

We also prepare decadent chocolate gift baskets for the sweet tooth on your list.  Why send flowers when you can send a gift of the world’s top chocolates from the Curious Grape?!

Want to learn more about chocolate, or host a unique, entertaining event that will blow your friends away?  Ask about our private chocolate tastings, featuring a range of some of the world’s best chocolates paired with wine in a fun, informative presentation – right in your own home!

If you want to dive into an incredible chocolate experience, give us a call, drop by the store, or contact Katie, our resident chocolate guru, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The Area’s Largest Selection Of Single-Origin Chocolate!

“And there’s no better place to get acquainted than The Curious Grape, where single-origin chocolate bars are sold alongside wine. Flavors include straight-up choc as well as everything from pink peppercorns to Earl Grey tea. Really want to get into it? Ask the staff to help you pair your candy with its ideal vino counterpart.”  Daily Candy, Nov 17, 2005.

What are single-origin chocolates?  Chocolate is made from cacao beans, harvested from pods growing on cacao trees in tropical regions throughout the world.  The vast majority of the world’s cacao is regarded as “bulk beans”, beans from inferior cacao species, that are basically bought by large chocolate companies based on price.  Just a tiny percentage of cacao (less than 6%) is regarded as “flavor beans”, highly-sought after cacao from the best species of trees, often grown by high-quality plantations that know how to preserve the complex flavor nuances of their prized beans.

In the last couple of years, the world’s top chocolatiers have begun ferreting out these flavor beans in places like Equador, Venezuela, and Trinidad, where some of the choicest species can still be found.  Rather than blending the beans, they produce individual bars from the beans of a single region, in order to showcase unique characteristics, much the way a winemaker uses the grapes from his best vineyard in a “reserve” or single-vineyard wine.

The result is an exciting array of top-quality chocolates with complex, distinctive flavors.  Depending on where the beans are from, some have a fruity, wine-like character; some have a rich, roasted coffee note; some are spicy, like the sandalwood in mens’ cologne.

We carry the area’s largest selection of single-origin chocolates, including Amedei (see “World’s Top Chocolate” below), and chocolates made from a single, outstanding plantation (the ultimate in single-origin) from Valrhona & Michel Cluizel, hands down two of the top chocolatiers in the world.

But filled chocolates aside, even the Chuao bars are better, with grown up flavors like Earl Grey and Spicy Maya.  Our favorite:  the Milk Chocolate Caracas bar.  Rich, super silky milk chocolate studded with huge pieces of almond, hazelnuts, and pistachio, it's like an adult, high-end Mr. Goodbar!  If you can't trust yourself, don't even get started!  Most importantly, no matter the flavor, it's all made with top-quality, criollo-type cacao grown in the Chuao region of Venezuela.  For us, that's what it's all about!

The World's Top Chocolate!

If you’re a certifiable chocoholic and you haven’t had Amedei, you haven’t had chocolate!  Featured in the May 2006 issue of Food & Wine as the world’s best chocolate, Amedei is a textbook artisan product, made in small batches by fanatical chocolatier Alessio Tessieri.  Working from his tiny plant in Tuscany, Tessieri and his sister Cecilia craft thin, crisp bars from the world’s best and rarest cacao beans, including the highly sought-after Chuao and Porcelana beans from Venezuela.

If the mention of the word “chocolate” conjures up images of creamy truffles or decadent confections, think again.  Amedei, like most of the rest of the world’s top chocolate producers today are all about the cacao, not the sugar, cream, or fancy flavorings.  While they may dabble in confections, what they build their reputations on are unadulterated bars that showcase the individual flavors and nuances of beans from various parts of the world.   What makes Amedei the best?  In a word, complexity.  While we almost balked at the price, the unbelievably complex flavors that unfolded like a symphony on the palate sold us.  As one of our staff members put it, there are about three different things going on at any one time.

In stock now: Amedei Chuao and Porcelana bars, as well as sampler packs of their Toscana Black line and a single-origin sampler containing small squares made from cacao from top regions of the world.  Be forewarned:  the world’s top chocolate doesn’t come cheap.  Bars and samplers price at $8.99 to $9.99.  For the complete Food & Wine article on Amedei, click here.  http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/the-worlds-best-chocolate

Sophisticated Flavor-Infused Chocolates

In addition to focusing on quality beans, today’s top chocolatiers are pushing the flavor envelop, with sophisticated combinations that will definitely change the way you think of chocolate.  We have one of the area’s largest selections of fabulous, oh-so-adult, flavor-infused chocolates like Lavendar & Blueberry, Bacon (with the hugely popular Vosges Bacon Bar!), Smoked Almonds & Sea Salt, Chai, and Chocolate spiced up with chilis, cinnamon, and chicory from some of the country’s hippest chocolatiers, including Vosges and Dagoba.  Speaking of hip … Looking for the Vosges Bacon Bar?  Look no further; just give us a call.

Locally-Made Artisan Confections

Praised by the Washingtonian and Washington Post, Artisan Confections are hand-made by local pastry chef and former art history major, Jason Andelman, using only the finest ingredients -- including all Valrhona chocolate, fine aged rum, and fresh, local flavorings like mint and honey.  The chocolates are then imprinted with art designs created by local artists.

A portion of the proceeds from each box goes to support Arlington Arts.

Available in 12 and 24-piece boxes.