King Leo candy - Julian, California

In my last post I mentioned that we visited the charming little mountain town of Julian, CA, where there are several wineries and tasting rooms. But I realized I left out an important place to stop while you are there. Tasting wine is wonderful... but so is tasting chocolate. Luckily, Julian has both. The King Leo Candy company is located in Julian, conveniently next to the Orfila Vineyards tasting room! Mark and I stumbled over there after our excellent wine tasting. As you may know, King Leo is famous for peppermint sticks - specifically, peppermint sticks dipped in chocolate. And they give free samples at the store.

While there, I tasted another of their specialties - peppermint bark. Usually seen mostly around Christmas, you can get some bark for your bite all year round at King Leo's factory store. Oh, and did I mention the free samples?

For those that prefer something colder to drink than a Cabernet, the King Leo store also offered ice cream shakes, sodas and frozen coffee concoctions. Prices on the candy were great, and they make wonderful gifts for all the children, or candy lovers, in your life. [My daughter Emily adored the chocolate dipped peppermint sticks.]