Sparkling rosé wine—be it Champagne or from another part of the world*—isn’t a great idea for Valentine’s Day just because it’s pink. The color is an added bonus for Valentine festivities.
What makes sparkling rosé special is the deeper fruit flavor, fuller body and roundness that comes from pinot noir grapes.†
Never confuse rosé Champagne or other fine sparkler with “pink Champagne,” a lesser-quality product that is colored pink, rather than allowing a natural color extraction from the pinot noir grape skins.
Rosé sparklers tend to be more expensive than their conventional counterparts. But for about $22.00 a bottle, a bottle of Domaine Chandon Brut Rosé is delicious; for $50.00, the Domaine Chandon Etoile Rosé has wonderful complexity and is well worth the money if your budget allows.
________________ *Only sparkling wines made in the Champagne region of France can be called “Champagne.” Wines made anywhere else—including other regions of France—are called sparkling wine.
†Some sparkling rosé wines are 100% pinot noir, others are blended with chardonnay grapes. Sparklers that have no pink color can still contain pinot noir, but have not had skin contact with the pinot noir grapes, which impart the color.
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Pretty in pink: as a cocktail or a dessert. Photo courtesy Domaine Chandon
The two sparkling wines are made by Domaine Chandon, the Napa Valley winery founded in 1973 by Moët-Hennessy, producers of Moët et Chandon and Dom Pérignon champagnes.
Serve these delicious bubblies:
As an apéritif, before dinner.
As a sherbet champagne cocktail (shown in photo): 1 ounce of sorbet in a champagne flute, topped with Domaine Chandon Brut Rosé (the strawberry sorbet complements the strawberry notes in the champagne).
With dinner.
As dessert: Adapt the champagne cocktail by adding a scoop of strawberry sorbet to a sherbet champagne glass, globe wine glass, parfait glass or compote dish; top with champagne and sliced strawberries.
Should you serve sparkling wine with chocolates or chocolate cake?
Only if it’s a demi sec or sec (sweet) style.‡ There’s too much acidity in a brut Champagne or sparkling wine, which fights the sugar in the dessert. Here are our suggestions for:
Punch with a punch: Ruby Port. Photo courtesy Sandeman.
If you’re having a Valentine’s Day party and are looking for a special cocktail, the ruby red color and luscious flavor of this Valentine punch, made with ruby port, fit the bill.
The recipe was developed for Sandeman Port—whose Ruby Port is a favorite of ours—by mixologist Adam Schuman of Fatty Crew restaurant in New York City.
You don’t need a punch bowl: You can mix the ingredients and serve them from a pitcher (which is a space saver, as well).
RUBY SLING PUNCH
Serves 10-15.
Ingredients
25 parts Sandman Ruby Port
20 pieces allspice
10 pieces star anise
5 cinnamon sticks
17 parts Jamaican white rum
25 parts pineapple juice
4 parts fresh lime juice
2 dashes Pernod liqueur
25 parts ginger ale
Ice
Garnish: nutmeg, optional lemon peel
Preparation
1. Simmer 6 parts of port with allspice, cinnamon and star anise. Cool (you can put it in the fridge to chill).
2. Add remaining ingredients except ginger ale and ice to the punch bowl.
3. Before serving, add ice and ginger ale to the punch. Grate or sprinkle nutmeg over the punch.
The easiest way to make vegetables attractive to veggie non-enthusiasts is to put them on skewers. Serve them as snacks or with lunch or dinner.
Bamboo skewers are very inexpensive: six-inch skewers are $1.00 for 50, and you can wash and reuse them. (Make sure you get skewers with pointy ends, not flat popsicle sticks.)
Then, cut whatever veggies you have into a large dice: bell peppers, brussels sprouts, carrots, celery, cucumbers, green beans, sugar snap peas, and zucchini; whole or halved broccoli and cauliflower florets; cherry or grape tomatoes.
You can get creative, adding anything from grapes to olives; but the objective here is not to make appetizer or dessert skewers but to get people to eat more veggies.
If you want a dip, serve salsa or nonfat Greek yogurt and your favorite seasonings. Here are three recipes for starters:
The plainest food exudes glamor on a stick. Photo by Matthew Bowden | SXC.
Serve the skewers on a plate, vertical in a juice glass or other vessel, or stick the pointy ends into a halved winter squash or a melon (and use the squash or melon for the next meal).
Any tea lover would adore these love-ly Tay Teas. Photo courtesy Tay Tea.
If you want to give your Valentine some Love Potion No. 9, mix up this Love Potion Martini.
If he or she would prefer some fine tea, one of our favorite tea purveyors, Tay Tea, offers these options in bright red canisters containing the finest loose leaf teas;
Better Than Sex, rooibos, chocolate and peppermint
Duchess’ First Love, rooibos and black teas with caramel
Lovers, rooibos, saffron and rose petals
Marry Me Again, black tea with lavender
Wild Woman, black tea with blueberries
Although many people can give tea alluring names, few can blend such fine teas as Tay Tea’s Nini Ordoubadi.
Whether for Valentine’s Day or just because you deserve some great tea, check out her wares at TayTea.com.
