Lillie Belle Farms Artisan Chocolates

Lillie Belle Farms chocolates can be found at the unique crossroads of Music and Chocolate - and that is where the magic happens. Their award winning artisan chocolates are completely hand-made using time-honored European techniques, but with a true American twist. 

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• Chocolate as Art
• Sweet Recommendations
• Southern Oregon Travel

Tucked just off I-5 in the unassuming southern Oregon town of Central Point, you can find divine respite from the road in a luxurious trifecta of world-class cheese, wine, and chocolate. The Southern Oregon Artisan Corridor - aptly coined "a little stretch of heaven" - is a small grouping of distinct artisan shops that have formed a culinary alliance of sorts.

Each shop offers on-site tastings, and they occasionally even collaborate on projects together. I have visited there not once, but twice in the last month, sampling prize-winning cheeses from Rogue Creamery, estate-grown wines from Ledger David Cellars, and hand-crafted chocolates from Lillie Belle Farms - all just steps from one another.

Chocolate as Art

Lillie Belle Farms founder Jeff Shepherd abides at the unique crossroads of Music and Chocolate - and that is where the magic happens. Like an electric anthem, Jeff's chocolates are a passionate, vibrant expression of his art. (Cue: Sugar Magnolia)

We are savage Rock 'N' Roll fans at Lillie Belle! Having attended literally thousands of loud live shows and seen hundreds of bands both old and new, Rock 'N' Roll is an integral part of our creative process. You will always hear music pulsing out of our kitchen. In fact, it's impossible to separate our chocolate life from our musical life. 

~ Jeff Shepherd, Lillie Belle Farms

The first time I visited Lillie Belle Farms (on a Travel Oregon press tour), we arrived right at closing time, and Jeff was in the process of transforming himself from chocolate artisan and entrepreneur to band member and guitar player. Now, it might be helpful for me to note that, on this particular trip, most of my traveling companions were significantly younger than me and may have lacked the deep appreciation for the tie-dyed generation and all that we stand for.

Jeff, on the other hand, falls approximately into my age demographic, and is every good thing you think of when you think Tie-Dyed Southern Oregon Musician + Chocolate.  In other words, we kinda connected. I mean, what's not to like about a guy who keeps a set of portable baffle boards in his chocolate kitchen so that he can set up for band practice at a moment's notice? 

So while all the rest of my party sprinted across the parking lot to Ledger David for our prearranged wine-tasting, I lingered a few extra minutes at Lillie Belle, chatting with Jeff about his current inspirations and future plans; and while I can't share everything we talked about at the moment, I can tell you that there is a lot to look forward to!

Just a few weeks after my first visit, I had the opportunity to stop at Lillie Belles again, this time with Mr B.

We arrived on a Sunday morning just before the doors opened, and there was already a line waiting to get in! Nevertheless, Jeff greeted us warmly and gave us the full VIP treatment, including a tour of the inner sanctum - his kitchen/band practice space. He and Mr B talked band life and bantered about musical preferences and what songs they had covered.

Jeff showed us the corner of the kitchen dedicated to Elvis, and his expansive wall of Grateful Dead covers, and his amazing custom traveling chocolate cart covered with backstage passes and concert tickets. (I can't remember every one, but we visited the week Tom Petty died, so I do remember there being many, many passes for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.)

By the end of our visit, I was practically ready to invite Jeff and his crew up north for dinner and an impromptu jam session. (I'd even let him bring dessert!)

But enough about Jeff. Let's talk about his chocolates.

Lillie Belle Farms, named for Jeff's wife Belle and daughter Lillie,  now moves some 20,000 pounds of chocolate a year, in the form of handmade gourmet chocolate bars, decadent ganache-filled chocolates, liquor-infused chocolates, truffles, fresh berry cups, cherry cordials, and chocolates filled with handmade fondants, butter creams, caramels, and toasted nuts.

Lille Belle has even created a Smokey Blue Cheese Truffle Spread; a collaboration with Rogue Creamery that combines an amazing, award-winning Smokey Blue Cheese, organic milk chocolate, and toasted almonds into a surprisingly satisfying spreadable tangy chocolate concoction.

Cheese and chocolate spread notwithstanding, one of the things I appreciated most about Lillie Belle Farms chocolates was the simplicity of the flavor profiles that they employ. What I mean is, lately we've been to some food events where we've sampled confections that intentionally challenge my palate with a confusing amalgamation of flavors that require me to do some serious cranial calisthenics as my brain tries to isolate and delineate each component. (Chili cilantro salted coffee cream, anyone?)

Conversely, the overwhelming majority of Lillie Belle chocolates are single-flavored bites, allowing you to lean back and simply enjoy the experience as the cocoa flavanols rouse your brain and the velvety chocolate caresses your tongue.

(Tangentially, there is some science behind why that strange Blue Cheese 'n Chocolate combo works; but in a nutshell, it's apparently because they share at least 73 flavor compounds.)

After much consideration, Mr B and I took home a small fortune's worth of luxury chocolates - every one a winner. Here are just a few of the standouts from our haul...

Sweet Recommendations

• Lavender caramels {Lavender infused caramels topped with Fleur de Sel salt}: So good. Just. So. Good.
• Maker's Mark Cups {Filled with pecan butter, dark chocolate and a Maker's Mark whiskey ganache, and topped with a large caramelized pecan}: Mr B LOVED this one. I can't tell you what I think about it because, he ate it up too fast.
• Frangelico Cups {Dark Chocolate cup filled with a creamy, Frangelico infused mousse}: Light and sweet without being cloying, this was one of my favorites. Because Frangelico. And Chocolate. Oh my...
• Raspberry Ganache {organically grown raspberries, infused in a dark chocolate ganache, covered with more dark chocolate and finished with a raspberry floral design}: Bright, clean raspberry flavor paired perfectly with a smooth dark chocolate.
• Marionberry Bon Bon {organic Marionberry preserves encased in a dark chocolate shell}: Sublime. As far as I'm concerned, you just cannot beat Marionberries and dark chocolate together. Smooth, well-balanced, and deeply satisfying.

You can find Lillie Belle Farms chocolates at Whole Foods, Made in Oregon stores, and Powell's among other places; or you can order it online. (Or do what we did and include it in your next trip to the Rogue River Valley.)

Lillie Belle Farms
211 N. Front St.
Central Point, OR 97502
(541) 664-2815
1 (888) 899-2022

Want to learn more about Jeff and his "ecclectic mind bending and transformative chocolate madness"? Check out his very entertaining Lillie Belle Farms blog.

Southern Oregon Travel

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