Depetris Riccardo - Alternative Monviso – Macambo

Ranked in the Top 100 Chocolates in the World. Origin & Craftsmanship This bar is part of Depetris Riccardo / Depetris…i Ciculaté's Cioccolato del Monviso line, made in Revello at the foot of Mount Monviso — a UNESCO World Heritage site in the Piedmont region of Italy. Rather than conventional Theobroma cacao, the Macambo is crafted from the beans of Theobroma Bicolor, a wild relative of cacao known across Amazonian civilisations as Pataxte or Macambo. Riccardo Depetris works bean-to-bar using artisanal systems that preserve the full character of these alternative seeds — a labour-intensive process for a raw material that sits almost entirely outside commercial chocolate production. Flavor Profile Unlike conventional dark chocolate, the Macambo produces a distinctly beige-coloured bar with a flavour profile closer to dried fruit than to cocoa bitterness — creamy, enveloping, and rounded, with gentle nuttiness and a smooth finish. For experienced chocolate drinkers this is a genuinely different sensory experience: familiar enough to read as chocolate, alien enough to surprise. Award & Recognition The Alternative Monviso — Macambo earned Gold at the 2026 International Chocolate Awards (European Bean-to-Bar Competition) in the Alternative Cacao category, scoring 90.4 points — the highest gold in its category. Depetris also took Silver in the same category for his Cupuaçu bar (88.4), making him the standout maker in alternative cacao at ICA 2026. Tasting & Pairing Guide Allow the bar to melt slowly — the creaminess and dried-fruit character reveal themselves gradually rather than immediately. Pair with a lightly oxidised white wine (an off-dry Chenin Blanc or Pinot Gris) to echo the nuttiness, or with roasted almonds and dried apricot for a textural pairing that stays in the same flavour register. For coffee drinkers, a natural-process Ethiopian with low acidity is a particularly clean match. Summary The Alternative Monviso — Macambo is one of the rarest bars in the world — a gold-winning, artisan-crafted dark chocolate made not from Theobroma cacao but from its wild Amazonian cousin. Beige in colour, creamy in texture, and unlike anything in conventional chocolate, it's a bar for curious palates and serious collectors.