Vine to Bar on California Bountiful

An in-depth look at our Chocolate Bars

Vine to Bar co-founder, Peggy Furth, sat down with California Bountiful to dive deep into the discovery and health benefits of WellVine™ Chardonnay Marc and the creation of Vine to Bar - perfectly blending this new superfood with decadent dark chocolate.

Full transcript:

Well, the idea was a long time in coming, in a way, in that we began to look at the sustainability programs in the fine coastal vineyards that Jackson Family Wineries farms and began to wonder if there was more we could squeeze from a Chardonnay grape. And we discovered that at the end of harvest from fresh pressed grapes, there is a residual skin, stems, and seeds referred to as Chardonnay Mark or Chardonnay Pumice. That is an underutilized asset. And we decided to begin an exploration of what we could do with it. From there, Peggy Firth, along with her longtime friend Barbara Bank, began to push the notion. Fresh pressed grape hummus is really kind of an active ingredient. And we needed to stabilize it by drying.
and then milling it so it would be appropriate as a food ingredient. No one had really studied the molecular composition of what's in this Chardonnay, Mark. And furthermore, what does it taste like? So we began those explorations in collaboration with UC Davis scientists. And that's when this sweet concept came to fruition. Actually, there's some really interesting stuff going on in white wine. I think for everyone, when I tell them that Chardonnay is a superfood, they're either a little skeptical or they're a little surprised. The potential of Chardonnay Mark in terms of that trifecta of both sensory health impacts, but still the sustainable food system. We actually have managed to get all three. So when it comes to food innovation, Wellvine is actually something of a unicorn.
That's a proprietary ingredient, first of its kind, And we were pleasantly surprised to learn that it's full of antioxidants and dietary flavanols and other fibers that enhance gut health. And we have something that's unique, first in class. And so we thought to explore this as a consumer-facing ingredient, we would pair it with dark chocolate, which is also known for its health attributes and is something consumers love to taste. Wine and chocolate. Upcycled and earth friendly? Such a novel idea. Right now it's only for the Chardonnay grapes, and that's a good place to start since Chardonnay as the wine is America's favorite wine, so we'd like to build the business to be compatible with that. Dried and milked grape skins, seeds, and pulp that would typically be discarded after wine making undergo a unique process to turn the residue into a nutrient dense ingredient.
There's not a lot you need to do to get me to try chocolate. And you have such fabulous spread in front of us, so I would love to try some. Well, let's start with the dark chocolate with a smoked salt that is smoked over Chardonnay barrel staves. So for all the, both the wine-loving people and for the salt-loving people, this might be your chocolate. The next one to try would be the tart cherry and cocoa nibs. And the tart cherry fruit complements. I love chocolate and fruit. Yeah, some of the fruity flavors that come through in chocolate. And so that complements it. Very good, very good. And then we have our almonds and dark chocolate. But this also has a little bit of the pink Himalayan.
Pink Himalayan. Salt. I'm being spoiled. You are. After getting a taste of the luxury chocolate straight off the chalk cootery board, I can attest to its deliciousness. That's actually quite good, too. Wow. The California almond industry, you can support two of the great agricultural economies in one product. And it's all California. It's all California. It has no alcohol content because, again, it's just fresh pressed grapes. We could walk out in the vineyard and taste fresh chardonnay. There's no alcohol in the grape cluster. However, vine-to-bar chocolate does pair well with a glass of wine, too. Most of our culinary friends and chefs all say, well, we pair our chocolate with red wines. because of the complementary flavors from the Wellvine Chardonnay Mark, it actually brightens and elevates the bitter flavors in dark chocolate.
We're getting compliments on how surprised they are that there is a superfood ingredient included with the dark chocolate, and the true essence of chocolate comes forward, as well as the fruit essence of the Chardonnay.