Wine Valentines Lovers Will Love

Roberto Viernes

on February 8, 2012

“Love is in the air everywhere you look …”

That’s what I think when Valentine’s Day approaches each year. I also look forward to spending a nice and sweet evening with my own sweetheart. And I’m always thinking that everyone is trying to get into “the mood.” You know what I mean. Let Dr. V steer you to find something you’ll like, and better yet, your partner will love. I know just the thing that can help to “grease the wheels.”

Now, let’s say you are still in the early days of your relationship. Things are going well, there is obvious chemistry going on and you want to get serious. What started off as butterflies has become hummingbirds every time you see his/her cell number on your phone. For Valentine’s Day you should have a Cabernet Sauvignon. It symbolizes security, solidity, longevity and complexity it can be a downright thrilling bottle of wine. It is deeply colored, and is also the most loved red varietal in the U.S. So how can you go wrong?

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Harvesters in the Neyers Vineyard picking Cabernet Sauvignon for AME. Photos from Roberto Viernes

Now if you’re on a budget, have no fear. A bottle of Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon ($18) is plenty of wine for the money. It is smooth and rich at the same time with sweet vanilla and creamy cassis flavors. It’s a really solid choice. If you want something that is higher end and more for the “insiders,” you both will love a special bottling from Neyers Vineyards called AME ($69). This Cabernet is all the above but sexier, thicker, richer and bolder. It’s just plain killer!

There are some couples who have been there and done that already. You’ve been together for many moons and know each other as well as yourselves. I think that’s awesome. We must admit that these relationships go beyond the physical, to the mental and emotional spectrum of the human condition, where cupidity and the whim do not exist. For you I recommend nothing less than Pinot Noir. It is the most seductive of all reds, yet it is also the most beguiling intellectually. The grape is thin-skinned but amazingly boasts the broadest array of aromatics and flavors in the red wine genre. It is the red wine that can most distinctly tell you of its origin and at the same time make a winemaker weep for its delicacy and finesse. Evening Land’s 2009 California Pinot Noir ($22) blends together stellar cherry and strawberry fruit essences with a hint of sandalwood spices. Sleek and silky, it glides over your palate. And if you want to go to the moon with Pinot Noir sexiness, you must try the 2009 Knez Cerise Vineyard Pinot Noir ($37). Cerise means cherries in French, and this wine sings with those bright, ripe berries along with a plump and juicy mid-palate laced with floral notes. The texture is so fine and elegant, like the perfect kiss.

And then there are those of you that are like moths to a flame, the hopeless romantics who fall in love repeatedly. For you there is only one thing I can recommend, and that is Champagne. No, not just any sparkling wine, it must be Champagne: the sparkling wine by which all others are judged. The only wine that can celebrate victory and defeat, love and loss, joy and sorrow. It is the most divine of all sparkling wines. Paul Bara’s Brut Reserve ($55) is a hedonistic and “carpe diem”-style of Champagne gushing with fresh toast, lemongrass notes and a rich texture. It is opulent and vivacious. And if you are certain it is “your night,” a bottle of Krug Grande Cuvee ($199) will only help. It is my favorite Champagne house and truly exudes class and greatness. Once you taste it, you will know why.

Here’s to love and lovers.

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Food & Dining Vino Sense