Wine with Leslie: Three bottles of wine I recommend for a Valentine's Day date
Leslie Williams: "Romeo and Juliet were underage, but if they did drink wine it was likely Valpolicella or Soave, the two nearest wine villages."
Happy St. Valentine’s Day. Myself and The Engineer don’t make a big deal of February 14, but we do always mark it by sharing a meal together with a bottle of wine (I cook).
A 75cl bottle is the perfect sharing size as it contains two and a half decent measures per person. But which wine?
Pink has become one of the colours of the day, so, of course, I recommend a food-friendly rosé below as well as a craft pink gin.
This is the only pink gin I think I have ever recommended, as it is bone dry; most commercial pink gin contains far too much sugar to make a decent G&T.
If you would like your wine to have a romantic connection, you could splash out for a bottle of Château Calon-Ségur Saint-Estephe, which has a large heart on its label but they are not easily found (Baggot Street Wines have the 2020 and Greenacres have their second wine, Marquis de Calon).
Romeo and Juliet were underage, but if they did drink wine it was likely Valpolicella or Soave, the two nearest wine villages. O’Briens have the Pasqua Romeo and Juliet Passione red for €15 with a label picturing the love notes written beneath Juliet’s balcony.
It’s tasty and quaffable but made from partially dried grapes so expect a little residual sugar.
A Ripasso Valpolicella is perhaps a better option with lots to choose from (Tommassi, Alpha-Zeta, Masi etc.), or choose a crisp fragrant Soave (see Pieropan below).
The Beaujolais Cru village of Saint-Amour is not as popular as Fleurie, but there are a few around; Bubble Brothers have Laurent Perrachon Saint-Amour at €22.
Gamay is an inherently seductive grape, so almost any Beaujolais is recommended.
My third suggestion below is a Californian Zinfandel, purely because it is perhaps the most seductive wine I’ve tasted in months.
Standard bottles of this floral zesty rosé are €10, but a magnum would make a fine Valentine’s gift for the rosé lover in your life (it’s not just women who love rosé, honest!).
Remember that rosé matches seafood (especially prawns) plus spicy Asian food (especially Thai, so is not just for summertime. Red fruit aromas plus citrus and white peach, lively and crisp on the palate with a pleasing zing.
- Dunnes Stores
From the hillsides of Verona, with Lake Garda in the distance. Given their youth, I think it is more likely that Romeo and Juliet would have drunk Soave rather than Valpolicella (people were more relaxed about young people drinking in the 16th century, it wasn’t against the law!).
Floral, passionfruit and lemon scents, stone fruit flavours and a crisp tangy finish, perfect for seafood, lemon risotto or creamy pasta.
- JJ O’Driscolls; 1661; Worldwide Wines; Corkscrew; wineonline.ie; theallotment.ie
Frog’s Leap’s wines are made by Napa veteran John Williams, who worked in Stag’s Leap in the 70s when their wine won best red at the famed Judgement of Paris tasting. Stewed red fruits, blackberry and liquorice with a touch of smoke and earth, sweet berry fruits on the palate, black cherry, more liquorice and balancing acidity on the finish. Elegant and with admirable purity.
Glendalough take their gin very seriously, employing a full-time forager, Geraldine Kavanagh. For this gin, rose petals from the master distiller’s mam’s garden are added to the foraged botanicals.
Aromatic and floral with orange peel and juniper, fruit and citrus on the palate and a Turkish delight pungency, dry, crisp pink peppercorn finish. Bone dry, unlike other pink gins, and on offer in O’Briens this month.
- O’Briens; Castle Tralee; Selected Carry-Outs; Drink-Store; Glendaloughdistillery.com
