August 28th: Lindt Wild Fruit & Rosemary Harmony

Kcal ??? Fat ??? Fat(sats) ??? Carbs ???

This Lindt Chocolat Provence range really hasn't set the world slight for me but just to make sure I have been thorough with the whole range I today tried the very last of the flavours from the selection. The Chocolat Provence range has experimented with putting didn't sorts of herbs and flowers in milk chocolate and in my opinion the previous Thyme and Lavender bars just really didn't hit the mark and were definitely not bars I would consider having again. Today, once again courtesy of Dean-German-Grocery, I got to try this Lindt Wild Fruit & Rosemary bar which was formed of milk chocolate flavoured with several red berries and of course rosemary.

This bar came in a standard 100.0g format that had I wanted to eat it all I would have done in two servings. In line with the other Chocolat Provence range the packaging had a classic, retro sort of look to it which I thought looked more suitable for an old womans fragrance. The chocolate itself had an odd smelling fragrance that was sweet yet ever so slightly herby and a little odd smelling ... suffice to say it didn't particularly entice, neither did it repulse. At first glance the chocolate looked pretty standard in terms of its appearance but upon closer inspection I could see small black and red specs throughout the bar.

It took me a few blocks to pin down the taste as it immediately reminded me of something completely unexpected. At first the flavours of the chocolate came through nicely with the sweet, creamy, cocoa substantiating a nice chocolaty context to the initial taste. Present throughout the initial wave of chocolate flavours the red berry influences were also highly detectable with bursts of sweet strawberry and tarter blackberry and raspberry proving to be very welcome to the taste. Frankly I wish Lindt had just left it there as the cream heavy taste of the chocolate and the juicy red berry elements played nicely off one another and made for a fine flavour combination. Unfortunately element X aka the rosemary was yet to join the party and mid way through the melt the taste was dominated by what I would describe as an onslaught of flavours that were incredibly like Parma Violet sweets I used to have as a kid. The perfume like influence of the rosemary was completely out of context and cheapened the taste bringing a dampener on the really quite delicious chocolate and berry synergy. I did eat most of this bar though halfway through my second serving I decided I wanted no more and threw the rest away.

Overall this bar performed much the same as the other Chocolat Provence bars in that the herb element just ruined what was already naturally a good chocolate. Maybe I just haven't got the whole point of this Chocolat Provence range but for me the whole herb/floral influences just didn't resonate. I think that sometimes manufactures like Lindt can over complicate their chocolate bars - I can't imagine too many people will ever choose to eat this bar over their more classic 85% dark chocolate which is a far simpler proposition. Much like I mentioned at the start of this review with the Thyme and Lavender bars this is not one I will likely be having again ever out of choice. It is always nice to try products like this as it is a nice change up from the more straight forward bars on the market. What this does go to prove though is that sometimes in the chocolate world .... less is definitely more!

6.4 out of 10

Head to Dean-German-Grocery for all your chocolate needs!