Romantic Valentine’s Day Wines

With Valentine’s Day following the caveman jubilee and hog fest known as Super Bowl the weekend before, many of us will be ripe for some romance.

These tips may not be quite enough to take someone’s heart by storm but they’re sure to kick-start a wonderful evening. After all, it’s the company and the sentiment that count, right?

This New Orleans shopkeeper keeps the love vibe going all year round.

It’s the bubbles

Champagne may get dissed as a Valentine’s Day cliché but let’s face it: Nothing spells romance like Champagne, from the uncorking ritual to the pour. Bubblies deliver a full-on sensual and sensory experience, starting with the eye-catching streaming perlage to the prickling sensation on the tongue, the brioche-like aromas on the nose and finally, those first scintillating sips. If Champagne isn’t in your budget this year, or even if it is, look to Spanish cava (made also in the traditional French style), consistently excellent American sparkling wine producers (Schramsberg, Scharffenberger, Roederer Estate and J Vineyards in California; Argyle in Oregon) and even to South America. We like the Antucura Fleurie sparkling rosé of Pinot Noir so much, we’ll be serving it at our Valentine’s Day five-course food and wine pairing dinner at Cooking with Class.

Drop acid and go for aromatic

Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Grigio and other high-acid wines marry beautifully with many foods, from goat cheese salads to simply grilled fish in lemon-butter sauce – lovely, but not exactly sentimental favorites. Hold off on wines that deliver tang and zing, opting instead for wines with captivating floral aromas and those that deliver weight on the palate. V is for Viognier this Valentine’s Day – we like just about all the different Viogniers made by Yalumba over the past five years. The gently priced Y series (2014) is available in the desert at many locations, including grocers. 

For reds, do like Rob Thomas: smooth

Wine professionals sometimes joke about the overriding appeal of smooth wines. But hey, smooth is good and on Valentine’s Day, smooth is also sexy. Even if your usual wine taste veers toward austere, give your palate a party on the 14^th with a fuller, more zoftig wine. Instead of lean or cooler-climate reds, treat yourself to a hefty Syrah (nothing says sexy better than Syrah and while Alban takes the cake, the Shafer Relentless is just that); a mouth-coating Merlot (Washington’s Northstar is a perennial favorite while Chile’s 2012 and 2013 Santa Ema Merlot are bargain standouts); or a not-so-young Cabernet (notable exception: the 2012 Jamieson Ranch Vineyards Double Lariat Cabernet from Napa Valley is drinking surprisingly well now, available at Dan’s Wine Shop in Palm Desert). A high-alcohol Zinfandel might put the kibosh on your romantic plans so perhaps steer clear of Zins pushing 15% or more ABV. Dan’s Wine Shop featured the 2010 Lake Sonoma Zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley, a steal at about $10. Others worth a sip are the Trentadue La Storia 2013 Zin from Alexander Valley and reliably excellent Zins from Ridge, William Selyem and Novy.

Be a sweetie

Somm tip: Save the after-dinner wine for after or instead of the dessert, not alongside it. Valentine’s Day desserts tend to be extra-sweet or over-the-top, which can make even a very sweet dessert wine taste off or unexciting. For a classic pour, go with a Port with all its dark-fruited creamy sensuality and spice. The outstanding 2011 vintage Ports are too young to drink now but plenty of choices and bargains abound in 2007 late-bottled vintage (abbreviated LBV on the label) Ports. Try the Quinta do Crasto or the savory Quinta do Portal. Show some panache after a chocolatey or fruity dessert with a Banyuls, the Grenache-based fortified wine from southern France. M. Chapoutier is a reliable producer.

Romance the place

If your sweetie is of Italian, Canadian, Spanish or another ancestry connected to a winemaking country, consider choosing a wine that acknowledges that heritage. Match your beloved to a fine Canadian ice wine, an aged and noble Brunello or Tempranillo, an Australian late-harvest Muscat or whatever wine best reflects that ancestry.

Pick and choose from these suggestions or go full-throttle with one of each. Now that’s amore.

A Holiday Sparkler from Argentina

Party planners have bubbles on the brain this time of year. Do you splurge for Champagne or go with a domestic sparkling wine? How much should you spend? What should you serve? And of course, how do you open that pressurized bottle without making a mess or unleashing a cork missile?

We uncorked last week's food and wine tasting dinner at Cooking with Class with an Argentine sparkler that's sure to jazz up your holiday get-together – Spirit of the Andes. Made by Tapiz, a winery owned by former nephrologist Patricia Ortiz, Spirit is a sparkling wine made from the Torrontés grape. Although Argentina's Torrontés was once believed related to a grape from Spain's Galicia that goes by the same name, genetic studies indicate that the desirable Torrontés riojano variant or cultivar represents a cross between the pink-skinned Criolla chica (Mission) grape and Muscat of Alexandria. It is this Muscat parentage that gives Torrontés its captivating perfumy aromas.  

Winemaker Fabian Valenzuela follows the traditional or champenoise method used in Champagne to make Spirit. At an average vineyard elevation of 3,000 feet, sustainably farmed grapes ripen in high-altitude sun while cool Andean nights allow grapes to retain their essential acidity. Hand-harvested fruit is first stainless-steel tank-fermented and made into a still wine. Once clarified, the wine is bottled and liqueur tirage, a combination of sugar dissolved in wine plus yeast, is added to kick off second-fermentation fizzes. Next, the wine rests on its lees, or spent yeast for 12 months, after which bottles are turned or tilted to funnel sediment in the neck. To finish the process, the temporary crown cap is released, sediment is disgorged and a small amount of extra brut dosage is added – a fudge factor of sweet wine that the winemaker adds to adjust the wine to its final desirable profile. The bottle is immediately sealed with a natural cork and wire muzzle.

Ah, that nerve-racking muzzle. One tip for safely opening a sparkler under pressure is to use a folded dish towel the entire time you handle the bottle. Find a sturdy surface and an area where an errant cork won't cause any damage. Sandwich the towel between your firm hand and the top of the wire cage. Keep gentle downward pressure with the towel hand as you untwist the cage. Now, still holding firm downward pressure with your towel hand, slowly twist the bottle while keeping your towel hand steady. As you feel the cork begin to emerge, be sure you have control over the cork end with your toweled hand. Control your slow twist on the bottle until you feel the cork pop into your toweled hand. If executed gently and properly, you should have total control of the cork and little, if any, spillage. Voilà, you're a pro!

In the glass, Spirit sends up delicate, white flower aromas with sweet nectarine and honeysuckle on the palate. Bubbles are persistent, as is the finish, all crisp, clean and utterly delightful. The barely perceptible sweetness is balanced by lively acidity, a combination that makes Spirit a worthy choice as an aperitif or with lighter first courses.

Chef Andie Hubka served a grilled radicchio salad with applewood-smoked bacon, Rogue River blue cheese, scallions, grapes and a drizzle of cactus honey. The salad's sweet notes played off the sparkler's tropical fruit basket flavors while the wine's acidity handled the creamy Rogue blue with finesse.

If holiday bubbles have you bemused, give this southern hemi sparkler a pop. At about $20 at Cooking with Class, Spirit of the Andes Sparkling Torrontés will turn your occasion into a celebration in no time. And if you're curious to learn more about the many different types of sparkling wines from around the world, catch some New Year's cheer at this month's wine essentials class on sparkling wines Thursday, December 29 at 6 PM. Sign up here, or call the school at 760.777.1161. Cin-cin!