2006 Oregon Chocolate Festival

2006 Participating Vendors
2006 Participating Wineries
Events & Activities
2006 Schedule of Activities
Seminars
History of Chocolate
Chocolate Poetry
2006 Chocolate Poster

Bigger, better and screaming CHOCOLATE! The second annual Oregon Chocolate Festival took place at the Ashland Springs Hotel on March 4th and 5th, 2006 and turned out to be a great success! Chocolate lovers, big and small, young and old had the best time ever during that weekend long festival with events scheduled throughout Ashland.

Oregon chocolatiers and other vendors did not disappoint us! During the festival attendees had an opportunity to taste chocolate bars, truffles, delicious chocolate covered famous Oregon pears, hazelnuts, berries as well as toffees and chocolate fudge and sauce. There was even more! Internationally acclaimed Rogue Creamery presented their delightful chocolate infused cheddar cheese and Rogue Ales poured incredible chocolate stout!

Participating companies included: Cary’s of Oregon, Dagoba Organic Chocolate, Lilly Belle Farms, Harry & David, Euphoria Chocolate Company, Hazelnut Growers of Oregon, Conscious Creations Organic Chocolate, Goody’s, Rogue Valley Fudge, Moonstruck Chocolate, Two Brothers Food Company, Diva Chocolates, SOS Pear Station, Romano’s Italian Soda, Rogue Creamery and Rogue Ales, Rising Sun Farms and Pennington Farms.

For those of you who like pairing chocolate with other highly nutritious products the Oregon Chocolate Festival offered chocolate and wine pairing events both in house and at local wineries. What better way to get your daily amount of antioxidants than a glass of red wine and a piece of dark chocolate! Participating wineries included: Paschal Winery, Weisinger’s of Ashland, Champagne Creek Winery, EdenVale Winery and Harris Bridge Winery.

Guests who needed to take a break from all that chocolate munching had an opportunity to participate in one of many informative seminars scheduled at the hotel. Seminars included: “Health benefits of chocolate”, “Use of chocolate in spas”, “History, Varietals and buying smart”, as well as “Wine & Chocolate Pairing;” Those who prefer more hands on experience, attended a cooking class “The Art & Science of Chocolate”, organized at Allyson’s of Ashland. The Varsity movie theatre featured chocolate-themed movie French “Chocolat”. Many also attended one-woman musical comedy show “Chocolate Confessions” and joined us in the First Friday of the Month Art Walk organized by the Ashland Gallery Association. This time the theme was… surprise, surprise “chocolate” and Jeff Shepard from Lillie Belle Farms presented to the public 20 of his chocolate paintings!

Kids were invited to the Science Works Hands-On Museum to try chocolate covered insects and to Windmill Inn to prepare chocolate éclairs with local pastry chef.

For those who trust more professional chefs than their own skills local restaurants, including Larks-Home Kitchen Cuisine at the Ashland Springs Hotel offered great specials, and we are not talking only about desserts!

Many attendees left festival not only with great memories, but also with bags full of goodies including chocolate products, wines, cheeses, and beer.