Wine Spectator, the premier wine magazine in the country, had an editorial about us this month. Unfortunately it’s only available online to subscribers.

The article tastes several bars from American artisan chocolate makers. It also gives a little background on the “bean to bar” industry. We were very ecstatic about how much they loved our chocolate.

Here are a few quotes from article by editor Owen Dugan.

[Amano's] Madagascar 70 percent was my favorite in the tastings. A note on the nomenclature: the new Americans mostly follow the European style of naming fine chocolate: source (sometimes a country, other times a smaller region); then percentage of cacao, whcih tells you how much of the contents come from cacao beans. This bar has a deep chocolaty flavor balanced by tropical fruit, but what really sets it apart is the light citrus acidity and texture, which, unlike some others’, snaps briskly when you bite it, yet is smooth and mouthcoating.

Get it while you can. Cacao and its producers can be unpredictable. I ask Pollard how he maintains consistency, a common point of criticism from established producers. “I don’t,” he says. “I try to make consistently good chocolate. If a certain region or farm isn’t producing quality, I won’t make those bars.”

I like the end of the editorial as well.

For years, fine-chocolate manufacturers have been telling me that the amount of top-quality cacao is finite, and they thank their lucky stars they have good relationships or long-term contracts with the best sources. I’m beginning to think they’re wrong, or at least underestimating the amounts. From the people mentioned here, I’m hearing that there are plenty of untapped sources and neglected plantations that could be brought back with some investment and care.

In terms of wine, it’s a little like saying in the 1960′s that the best vineyards have already been planted and are being made into the best wines — sorry California.

While that’s true, it is also true that cacao supplies really are limited. One big worry is farmers planting popular varieties of cacao rather than nurturing the local species. It is true that there are neglected or abandoned plantations that can be brought back to life. But once the trees in a plantation are killed that becomes much, much more difficult. And you may never be able to recreate the uniqueness of the original plantation. For those of us committed to nurturing the uniqueness of different strains of cacao losing that variety to the homogenization of the industry is a travesty.

What can you do to help? Buy single origin chocolate so that farmers are rewarded for producing unique local varieties of cacao. There’s a lot of pressure for low quality homogenized chocolate. Consumer support is the best way to change that.