Southern retreat

HAVING heard how difficult it is to pair chocolates with wine, oenologist John Wade signed up for a short course, and within six months, exchanged his 40-year wine-making career for a new one in chocolate.

He migrated over from wines to the "dark side" as it were, and named his chocolate atelier accordingly.

"But there's not a lot of difference between winemaking and chocolate making - it's all about flavour, balance, structure, and using good raw ingredients," shares the grandfatherly-looking chocolatier with white hair and a well-trimmed beard.

Darkside Chocolates, on the main street of Denmark, a coastal town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia (WA), is an unassuming store with a simple shopfront. Glass cabinets are filled with trays of chocolate, and the flavours are very unique with a strong local South Australian emphasis. There's Shiraz and Sauvignon Blanc in his wine-filled chocolates, then of course there'…