The Third Annual Enumclaw Wine & Chocolate Festival was this last weekend, February 4-5, 2011 at the Enumclaw Expo Center.  The event showcased 30+ shops for your perusing pleasure, 30+ wineries for tasting, and 13 chocolate vendors.  This year’s event was for persons 21 and over which allowed for more vendor flexibility, as the wine and chocolate booths were next to each and dispersed throughout the Expo Center.  This allowed for a fun time out for the adults.  Tickets were good for both days and additional wine tasting tickets were only $1 each (as long as you came back with your wine glass).  Entertainment included Moody Music and a number of seminars on wine, truffle making, and food pairing.  There were a couple stops along the route for a bite as well.  My favorite chocolatiers there was Carter’s Chocolates out of Port Orchard, WA  http://www.carterschocolates.com/ .  Carter’s Chocolates can be found in other locations too…check out the About Us section of their website for where to purchase.  There were different kinds of chocolate makers… from fudge to chocolate bars, chocolate nuts to chocolate drinks, as well as the specialty chocolatiers like truffles and caramel.  Doesn’t this sound heavenly? Also, a bit like Forest Gump’s Shrimp analogy? 🙂   Mark your calendars for next years event but be sure to go on Friday or earlier on Saturday (as some chocolate vendors ran out of samples).  There were plenty of different wines for all tastes, from inexpensive, to fruit wines, dessert wines, as well as some really good wines to share with your special valentine.   Some of my favorite wines there this year were from Five Star Cellars, Brian Carter Cellars, Kontos Cellars, Barrister Winery, and Gamache Vintners, in no particular order.  And because this was a Chamber of Commerce event, wine was available for purchase at a good discount.  Make it a day (or evening) out, and enjoy the ride.  http://enumclawchocolatefestival.com/