It’s great that when love is in the air you can buy special treats for your Valentine. Even better, you can buy a treat you’ll enjoy too, which is a win win. Or perhaps it’s wine, wine. Here’s some ideas.
Me & Monsieur Jones 2015 (£15.99, www.nakedwines.com, or £11.99 if you’re one of Naked Wines’ investing Angels, 14% abv) Love was in the air when English girl Katie Jones moved to France to make wine and met and married local winemaker Jean-Marc. This wine is a blend of grenache grapes from his vineyard and old vine carignan from hers. It is deep red, velvety, with lush fruity aromas and soft tannins. It’s as cuddlesome and snugly as your Valentine.
If prosecco is your Valentine’s favourite fizz this one fits the theme. Prosecco Romeo & Juliet NV Treviso (£11.99, or £8.99 in a buy six deal at Majestic, 11% abv) I love the arty label which helps it stand out from the prosecco crowd. The wine has typical aromas of pears and apples and signature prosecco favours. You’ll find cheaper prosecco, but if you want a message of love, it’s all there in the name.
Veuve Monsigny Pink Champagne Brut (£14.99, Aldi, and www.aldi.co.uk, 12% abv) This pink sparkler is new in store this week, just in time to turn your thoughts to love. Enjoy a flirtatious evening with this good value champagne which has a shimmer of red berry fruits, a flutter of fizzy bubbles and delicate fresh and dried fruit flavours.
Vin Mousseux Beaumonde Rosé Brut 2015 (£11.99, www.laithwaites.co.uk, 12% abv) Beaumonde Rosé is the pink of a blushing English bride – well, a bride that hasn’t been on the sunbed for hours and hours before the wedding. It is made from grenache grapes grown on limestone just down the coast from the hills of Provence, the home of elegant pink wines. There’s flavours of fresh red fruits and strawberries, together with a wisp of herbs on the nose.
Lanson Rose Champagne (£28.99, from £34.99 until February 14 at Bargain Booze, 12.5% abv) This champagne is such a pretty rose petal pink. It has aromas of my favourite strawberry tarts, you know the ones; crisp shortcrust pastry, fresh strawberries and a peak of cream. Fresh red fruit flavours tingle with a juicy flash of acidity. What’s not to love.
Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé (RRP £58.99, down to £43.99 at Waitrose until February 21, and £44.99 at Majestic in a buy six deal) This extra-special champagne is presented in a 16th-century style bottle and speaks class. It has elegant fresh aromas of red fruits, raspberries and strawberries, and to taste, delicious red fruits dance on the tastebuds, as a peek of cherry emerges from the shadows. Light some candles and enjoy.
Finally for small budgets …. Lambrini has released special bottles of Very Cherry and So Strawberry (both RRP £3.29, 5% abv) and Always Original (RRP £1.99, 7.5% abv). They’re bang on trend for this Valentine season, as they’re festooned in hearts and flowers. The limited editions are in Asda, Tesco, Morrisons, Co-op and Sainsbury’s while stocks last.
*First published in February 2017 in over 20 regional UK newspapers including:
Liverpool Echo – South Wales Echo – Daily Post Wales – Huddersfield Examiner – The Chronicle, Newcastle – Teesside Evening Gazette – Birmingham Mail – Coventry Telegraph – Paisley Daily Express