Chocolate, coffee, and wine comprise a divine trinity that doesn’t always get the attention it so richly deserves but an increasing number of chefs, epicures, and foodies have begun to realize that the great quality of these culinary treasures should have as much forethought as a scallop, cut of steak, stalk of asparagus or wedge of cheese.

A similar epiphany struck Matt Caputo at a gourmet food trade show and he decided to raise the quality of gourmet chocolates his family’s market deli stocked to the same level as the meats, cheeses, and olive oils from Italy and southern Europe his store carries. But he knew that traditional marketing tactics might not be enough to secure the potential sales interest for distributors who were discriminating about which shops should carry their products.

Unsure of how much customers were willing to pay for a gourmet chocolate bar, he decided to offer tasting classes beginning at five dollars, which hardly covered the cost of the chocolates. “Afterward, people came in and brought along their friends, passionately urging them to try these chocolates,” he says.

Class size and frequency grew so rapidly that Caputo decided to offer different levels of tasting and instruction for a growing network of new and experienced chocophiles who now interact online as well.

Chocolate’s cache – especially dark chocolate which is being touted for its health benefits even as some scientists caution against the tradeoffs of high fat and calorie content – has expanded enormously in the last few years. Sales of dark chocolate alone increased by nearly 50 percent between 2003 and 2006 to just over $1.88 billion.

Enter Matt as a passionate chocophile – an evangelist for a real product that attracts the serious attention not of just passionate foodies but also of farmers, scientists, and a new generation of chocolate makers who strive to present a chocolate bean as pure in taste and quality as possible.

Today, Caputo’s Market and Deli is among a handful of stores that carry chocolate bars – by virtue of appraisals from fine food connoisseurs and awards in world exhibitions and competitions – which make Hershey’s and other mass produced brands taste, according to Matt, “like sweet vomit.” And, other names popularly associated, but mistakenly so, with fine quality fare just as poorly when matched against the emerging brands of Amedei, Domori, Pralus, and Amano.

At his well-attended classes, Matt quickly dispenses with the “bad to mediocre” class of product. And, there are some surprising revelations.

For example, Perugina – once considered to be somewhat respectable – has degraded into a product governed not by quality of bean, but by the efficiency of mass production. “Ten years ago, they were bought by Nestle’s who introduced ‘efficiencies’ to the production processes, turning a mediocre chocolate into a poor chocolate,” Matt explains. “Perugina is absolutely laughed at among chocolate experts (as are most Belgian chocolates).”

Meanwhile, Lindt, which markets an “excellence” product line claiming 70 percent cacao content, uses the same type of beans – forestero – and mass production processes as Perugina but experts agree that Lindt does a better job masking the mediocre bean quality. Scharffen Berger – once hailed as the first American artisan chocolate maker – just barely meets the threshold, Matt says, adding that now “it has been bought by Hershey’s we can kiss it goodbye.”

Harsh words, indeed, but Matt uses these examples to show what lies at the essence of truly extraordinary chocolate – a product no longer a casual afterthought to a first-class meal but the proper punctuation point of genuine culinary excellence.

Consumers should approach cautiously bars claiming 70 percent cacao content. First, there are no federal regulations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration regarding the bean content in bars. And, it’s the bean – the criollo bean of which the most exceptional varieties come from a Venezuelan peninsula – along with its natural presence in the bar, which exemplify the much-touted healthful antioxidant properties of chocolate. “Most bars claiming to be criollo are almost always only part criollo at best, with lots of filler cacaos making up the rest of the bar or no criollo at all,” Matt says.

The single bar regarded almost universally as the best in the world is the Amedei Chuao, which is available at Caputo’s, just one of 14 distributors in the United States selected by the Italian chocolate maker. Amedei is operated by Alessio and Cecelia Tessieri who have cultivated close relationships with plantations and farmers dedicated to producing single-origin beans of rare quality.

For example, the Chuao is grown in the specific microclimate conditions of this Venezuelan area. Matt’s appraisal is rhapsodic: “Its complex, layered flavor reveals notes of overripe red fruits, plums, and black cherries along with nuances of almonds and a creamy texture.” He adds that the bar’s production is a first in the world because it was created using only the Chuao beans from Venezuela. “There is absolutely no cut with lower grade criollos, trinitario, or forestero,” he says.

Students in his chocolate class also are exposed to other fine varietals including the Amedei Porcelana, a delicate bar ideal for early morning consumption – “before the first cup of coffee” – that imparts woody, gentle yeasty, and caramel-like tones.

However, just behind the Amedei Chuao, in Matt’s estimation, is Domori Puertomar, which he describes as a triumph of genetic research that successfully resurrected a long-dead heirloom varietal of a criollo bean. The bean is derived from Haciena San Jose on the Parian peninsula in Venezuela. Sophisticated in flavors with fruits, jams, spice, and nuts, the bar embodies the terroir of its origin with extraordinary texture and natural sweetness, he explains.

Domori, like Amedei, are relatively recent entries into the chocolate-making industry. Unlike many of their better-known and popularized peers, they work exclusively on a bean-to-bar tradition. Most chocolatiers – including such previously beloved names as Godiva – merely buy up chocolate and remelt it into their own formulations.

Matt also shares with his students two favorites made by non-Italian chocolatiers including the French-based Pralus company which features a Djakarta bar. He describes it “as instantly gratifying with a roasted bean that has a surprisingly smoky flavor along with wood, slightly acidic, and mushroom notes.”

The other comes, rather remarkably, from Amano, an Orem-based maker that has grabbed the attention of experts such as the editors at seventypercent.com, the primary online source for news and information about fine chocolate. “Amano’s Madagascar is a very respectable product that features excellent tart berry and balsamic tones throughout,” he says.

Chocolate tasting classes will be held Nov. 16 and Nov. 17 at the fourth annual Utah Chocolate Show at the South Towne Expo in Sandy.