Should you have been fortunate sufficient to get on Dr. Dan McCoy’s Christmas chocolate listing over the past couple of a long time, you already knew that the previous Blue Cross Blue Protect of Texas president knew his approach round a cocoa bean, however his newest endeavor because the proprietor of Hill Country Chocolate and its sister firm DKM Cellars has taken his ardour to a brand new stage.

McCoy is a person of many abilities. Earlier than shifting into the C-suite at Blue Cross, he was a dermatologist. Throughout his time as an insurance coverage government, D CEO journal wrote about his ardour for images, superbly capturing on a regular basis life on his travels. On the time, we didn’t know that McCoy had stuffed his visitor home with chocolate-making tools, experimenting with flavors and textures and making lots of of goodies to ship to associates every year for the vacations.

He had been emailing and calling chocolate specialists for years, studying about molds and cocoa beans to get the proper style. “It’s a loopy mix of science and creativity,” he says. “It appealed to my mind, so I began doing issues, and I took a number of courses right here and there, and I received quite a lot of recommendation from individuals.”

After leaving Blue Cross in 2020, he started to do some healthcare consulting however quickly grew uninterested in being restricted to zoom calls all day. Years in the past, he had purchased a home in Fredericksburg and started toying with the concept of taking his chocolate abilities to the Hill Country. And he’s arriving with some formal training. After deciding he was watching an excessive amount of Netflix a number of years in the past, he enrolled in two certification programs in viticulture and Texas winemaking from Texas Tech College’s plant and soil science division, which relies in Fredericksburg. He graduated in 2020.

The dream grew to become a actuality when he shaped Hill Country Chocolate, a store 5 minutes from Fredericksburg’s foremost drag, which is replete with boutiques, eating places, and an untold variety of bachelorette events. The 4,000 sq. foot store is a “bean to bar” chocolate manufacturing facility that was once a wooden store.

McCoy insists on ethically sourced beans and isn’t afraid to experiment. His confections run the gamut from artisanal bon bons to different creations utilizing Okinawan black sugar, espresso, black pepper, and even an orange ganache. There are additionally conventional confections like almond butter toffee, pecan caramel, and peanut brittle.

He additionally runs DKM cellars out of the area, the place he companions with wine-makers all over the world and has began his personal winery (it isn’t producing grapes but). Central Coast California Rosé and Sauvignon Blanc, a Tuscan pink wine, and a Moscato di Asti from Piedmont are already on the menu.

The store has a tasting room that McCoy describes as a speakeasy vibe that mixes wine and chocolate for a 90-minute tasting session that features a chocolate-infused charcuterie board. “Individuals have all the time had this pure romance between chocolate and wine,” McCoy says. “When individuals come right here, we begin to describe all of the synergies. Each crops are perennial crops, and each fruits are picked off the crops in the identical approach. Each are fermented near the place they’re picked. There’s quite a lot of similarities between the merchandise.”

The chocolate manufacturing facility opened in April, they usually have been open to the general public in Might. The chocolate is being offered in a few space wineries, and the group additionally launched a wine membership. The web site launched this fall.

McCoy remains to be holding his consulting work, the place his firm has quite a lot of healthcare shoppers however is increasing to different industries. He focuses on storytelling and enjoys serving to organizations craft their message and goal an viewers.

He’s utilizing those self same abilities right this moment, bringing chocolate and wine along with Hill Country Chocolate and DKM Cellars. “It’s not simply romance; it’s chemistry,” he says. “Each of those merchandise have been manipulated and reworked in a lot the identical approach, they usually ended up having a novel capacity to go collectively.”

Writer

Will is the managing editor for D CEO journal and the editor of D CEO Healthcare. He is written about healthcare…