Pierre Marcolini takes us around the world by chocolate
Pierre Marcolini, the chocolatier who has collaborated with Tom Ford and Saint Laurent, celebrates 20 years of chocolate making with a new selection that transports us around the globe
Pierre Marcolini’s two decades in the chocolate industry have been an odyssey. In that time, he has become one of the world’s best chocolatiers, collaborated with Tom Ford, Tom Dixon, and Saint Laurent, and become an exemplar of what it means to source cocoa ethically.
Marcolini founded his eponymous maison in 1995, but it was only in 2001 that he started producing the chocolate for his creations. Now, celebrating 20 years of chocolate making, he is launching 20 new chocolate tablets on September 3rd made with cocoa sourced from around the world.
Marcolini was one of the first chocolatiers to source his own cocoa directly from plantation owners – a process he calls ‘Bean to Bar’ – and it has become the defining element of his success.
‘When we started the Bean to Bar project 20 years ago,’ he says, the idea of a company sourcing its own beans to make chocolate for its products, rather than buying in chocolate ready made, was somewhat advanced. Now, he adds, ‘we’re hugely proud to launch a new collection of Grand Cru tablets’.
Grand Cru refers to the brand’s most exclusive chocolate, all of which is labelled according to the origin of its cocoa. ‘China, India, Indonesia,’ says the chocolatier. ‘I wanted to take lovers of fine chocolate on a journey and allow them to discover a diversity of flavours and textures. At times fruity, sometimes aromatic and at others tangy with woody undertones.’
For Marcolini, appreciating fine chocolate is like appreciating fine wine. Each bean has a unique intensity on the palate and depth of aroma based on where it comes from and how it was grown. For instance, the beans sourced from India are slightly tangy with nutty aromas, while the ones that come from Indonesia have notes of nutmeg and sumac.
This is part of the pleasure of Pierre Marcolini chocolates. Not only does the chocolate taste exceptional, but it encourages a more considered type of consumption. These are not chocolates you chow down half way through a stressful day at work, but rather ones that you savour, with each box offering its own array of surprises.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Mary Cleary is a writer based in London and New York. Previously beauty & grooming editor at Wallpaper*, she is now a contributing editor, alongside writing for various publications on all aspects of culture.
-
‘I was captivated by the idea of merging two iconic brands’: Nigo on his collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which features a 1990s-inspired riff on the G-Wagon
Unveiled at Moncler’s ‘The City of Genius’ event in Shanghai this past weekend, Japanese fashion designer Nigo unpacks his three-way collaboration with Moncler and Mercedes-Benz, which includes a play on the G-Class alongside a fashion collection in his eclectic style
By Jack Moss Published
-
Cathay Pacific’s new business class Aria Suites take flight
Cathay Pacific raises the bar for business-class travel with the launch of the much-anticipated Aria Suites
By Lauren Ho Published
-
Volvo’s ultra-efficient EX30 compact EV gets its first real competition, the new Smart #3
We experience the highly rated Volvo EX30 and Smart’s most recent foray into pure electric cars, the #3. Which is the best executed small SUV?
By Jonathan Bell Published