Kollar Chocolates, Yountville, California

It is hard to resist stopping into a chocolate shop when you can see one of their chocolatiers working right in the window, mixing up delicious looking batches of ganache for truffles and bon bons. This very scene is what made me poke my head into Kollar Chocolates, in Yountville, after a friend of mine pointed me in their direction and said I should check them out. The beautiful chocolate shop is relatively new to the area, but already seems to be becoming a favorite with local chocoholics.

The shop is located in the V Marketplace, right on the main street in Yountville. It’s a beautifully appointed shop, with  a warm, but modern aesthetic – and the chocolate bar wall at the back of the store is definitely eye catching. Of course, the real draw is the case at the front of the store that is loaded up with beautiful chocolates. They have a mix of molded (shaped) bon bons and enrobed (square) bon bons, with a mixture of milk and dark chocolate options. There was a lot of variety to choose from, from munchable chocolate barks to truffles with locally-sourced herbs, wine and liqueurs as flavoring. It also looked like this shop primarily used Valrhona chocolate in their candies.

The Kollar Krack and Strawberry Fizz were both types of chocolate bark made with pop rocks in them, which gave the chocolate a fun and fizzy texture. The strawberry was my favorite, since it reminded me of strawberry soda. Most of the pieces of chocolate were sold individually, but the barks were sold by weight.

One thing that I liked about this shop is that the chocolates seemed very modern. Modern shapes and modern colors on the bon bons, which makes them look like little jewels once they were in the box. I also noticed that the girl working in the shop took care to arrange the chocolates on the plate to make sure that the pieces were visually balanced before putting them into the box. Details like that don’t necessarily make the chocolate taste any better, but that kind of attention to detail when it comes to packaging (and few places seem to take this kind of care when you’re picking pieces for a box) is representative of the detail that goes into making their chocolates, too.

I picked out a variety and can honestly say that I didn’t have just one favorite. The Coffee Kahlua was a standout because I am a coffee lover, and the Coconut had a surprisingly creamy center. Fennel Pollen was both tasty and a little unusual if you’re looking for something more exotic with your chocolate. Everything is high quality, so if you’re going to stop by just pick out anything that strikes your fancy and you can’t go wrong.

Kollar Chocolates
6525 Washington Street
Yountville, CA 94599