Fine wines to enjoy on St Valentine’s Day

WHAT is love? Well, to judge by the sea of gifts and cards welling up in the shops this weekend it’s pink, frothy and ephemeral — basically the Jedward of emotions.

But then to be fair, bubbly fun certainly is one aspect of affairs of the heart. And in terms of wine that means a coalition or collision of two biggest growth trends in wine here in Ireland: rosé and sparkling.

Most Champagne (along with its emulators across the wine world) is made from a blend of white (chardonnay) and red or black grapes (pinot noir and pinot meunier). So, apart from blends across that colour divide, there are three colour codes of sparkling wine.