Many people like to crack open a bottle of bubbly for V-Day. We think the most appropriate bubbly for this special celebration is a rose-hued sparkling wine.

In France, rosé Champagne is made from blending red and white wines. They tend to be more expensive and more full-bodied than their white counterparts.

Don’t confuse rosé Champagne or other rosé sparklers with “pink Champagne,” an inexpensive sparkling wine that is colored pink, rather than allowing a natural color extraction from the grape skins.

You don’t need deep pockets to enjoy a flute of rose-hued bubbly. One of our favorites is [yellowtail] Bubbly Rosé, an inexpensive sparkler (around $10) from Australia.

• See more Valentine’s Day wine recommendations. (How could you pass up Duboeuf Saint Amour Domaine du Paradis, or Sine Qua Non Just For The Love of It?)
• Maine’s Cellar Door Winery produces Amorosa, Perfect Stranger, Prince Valiant, Serendipity, Sweetheart and Treasure. How’s that for a Valentine’s Day tasting (or for a wedding, an engagement party or anniversary party)?
• Learn more about buying Champagne.

[yellowtail] Bubbles Rosé is our favorite inexpensive rosé sparkler.

Say “I love you” with sweetened mascarpone
and raspberry purée. Photo courtesy Peabody Rudd.

The luscious mascarpone creation can serve as a cheese course prior to dessert, or instead of dessert.

You need special heart-shaped ceramic molds, but they can be used throughout the year for other purposes. (With a tiny dish underneath, we use them for tea bags, olive pits and garnishes—for example, to hold croutons for soup.)

• Get the recipe for Coeur à la Crème.
• Learn more about mascarpone.

[1] A salmon farm (photo © Monterey Bay Aquarium).

[2] Raw salmon fillet (photo © Sitka Salmon Shares).

Wild salmon and other fish are more costly, but farmed fish is controversial for numerous reasons. One is that they are threatening the wild salmon population. There are concerns that in another generation, there may be no more wild salmon.

Millions of farmed salmon, raised in pens along coastlines, escape each year (due to equipment failure, extreme weather conditions, and human error). In the northern Atlantic Ocean alone, an estimated two million farmed salmon escape annually.

These fugitive fish go on to harm the wild salmon population. Farmed salmon carry parasites that can attack the wild salmon population. Farmed salmon are larger and more aggressive than wild salmon; they compete with wild salmon for the food supply. And worse, they interbreed with the wild salmon population, creating hybrids. (Read more about farmed salmon issues.)

Top seafood chef Rick Moonen, a Las Vegas chef, restaurant owner, and early champion for sustainable fishing practices, is now an exclusive supporter of wild salmon. Moonen had endorsed Norwegian farmed salmon years ago, but has since learned the harm caused by the open net technology used in Norway and other places. Even a major retail chain can make a commitment to healthier, more sustainable seafood: Target stores have announced that farmed salmon will be eliminated from their more than 1,700 stores. The company will sell only wild salmon.

Still, if you want to do the right thing, you can be misled by false advertising. According to Food & Water Watch, a non-profit organization that works with grassroots organizations around the world to create an economically and environmentally viable future, the Norwegian Seafood Export Council (NSEC) is misleading U.S. consumers with the false impression that Norwegian salmon is wild, not farmed.

Browse through Food & Water Watch’s website for more information on this and other food issues. You’ll be surprised—and chagrined—at the number of issues facing our food supply.

The newest addition to the Green & Black’s family of premium organic chocolate bars is the Peanut bar, a blend of premium 37% cacao dark milk chocolate with delectable caramelized peanuts and a hint of sea salt.

Whether you’re single and celebrating with a group of friends or planning a romantic evening for two, a chocolate and wine tasting is a delicious way to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

Green & Black’s suggests the following chocolate-and-wine pairings (and we have many more ideas—see below):

• Green & Black’s Toffee Chocolate Bar With Zinfandel. The rich, dark-fruit characters in the wine accentuate the chocolate’s buttery sweet toffee flavors.
• Green & Black’s White Chocolate Bar with Chardonnay. The silky smoothness, creamy texture and vanilla finish of Green & Black’s White Chocolate Bar is perfectly complemented by the tropical fruit and hint of oak in a classic Chardonnay. This white chocolate bar is one of our editor’s favorites. She calls it “masculine” white chocolate—not the overly sweet and cloying bars one often encounters.

A great combination of peanuts, sea salt
and milk chocolate. Photo courtesy Green & Blacks.

• Green & Black’s Dark 85% Dark Chocolate Bar with Syrah. The intense flavors of a high percentage cacao bar require a rich wine like Syrah. The complexity and sturdy structure of the wine softens and enhances the dark, intense chocolate.

Conduct the tasting as would a wine tasting. Choose up to six pairings. Start with the lightest variety (white chocolate) and finish with the darkest (dark 85%).

• See our article on how to conduct a chocolate tasting party.
• See our extensive list of wine and chocolate pairings.