Transcript:
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Hello, bonjour, and welcome to the new Bonner Private Wines video. We only a couple of weeks away from what must be one of the most pleasurable moments on the year’s calendar, especially for wine lovers. A celebration of love and affection, the perfect occasion to enjoy a romantic dinner with your significant other. And if you ask me what better way to enhance the experience with the perfect bottles of wine?
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And here I don’t mean to give you a lecture on which wines you should absolutely have to respect the wine etiquette, as so many articles do. But rather I want to give you a palate, a spectrum, a variety of options so you can find one or two ideas at least that clicks in your imagination and make you say, This is the wine that I want and I think my partner will enjoy it as well.
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I absolutely want this, good idea Julien. Let’s go and explain In a minute or two I want to give you an absolutely gorgeous Multi-course menu for the most memorable Valentine’s Day dinner that you’ve ever dreamed of. So stay tuned for that. It’s going to make us salivate, I’m sure. But first, let’s go through some of the best wines that you can consider for Valentine’s Day in each style, whether you and your loved one prefer the red, white, the roses, the white wine, even the sparklings or sweets, etc. For whites, if you want to stick with the classics, of course there’s nothing wrong about that,
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go with a chardonnay, you can’t go wrong with the chardonnay. But something less conventional clearly I’d consider is a Sauvignon blanc, as it smells fresher in style, more zingy and acidic on your palate, also fruity, crisp and grassy. So it’s way more likely to surprise and tease your senses with the same approach. Riesling is to be considered as well because it’s crisp and it’s also very fruity and it comes in a variety of sweetness levels to choose from, from bone dry to off dry, and even some sweet.
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Now, if you’re feeling more adventurous and up for a discovery, go for a Vinho Verde from Portugal. That’s a very light and somewhat watery style, but super refreshing. So it’s a nice for the starters, delicately fruity and a tiny bit sweet. For a bolder dry style with a heap of personality and an oily mouth coating texture, a Spanish albarino. Absolutely delicious and quite unknown.
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Also deal a fruit bomb in the form of a dry muscat. For red wines I think Pinot Noir is the absolute contender here. Lighter in style than most other reds, but always very fruity and approachable, yet dry and velvety. Super versatile too, with various foods. So it’s perfect. It’s hard to beat. Where you can be adventurous here is going off the beaten track, leave the US West Coast
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pinot aside even though they’re absolutely delicious of course, but you can go with a nice burgundy red from France. It could be an even more austere and more acidic, crisper and more refined in style. With food especially, it goes particularly well. Now the perfect compromise would be a New Zealand pinot noir like from Central Otago. Those are explosive, explosive fruit bomb of pinot noir yet really crisp and probably my number one recommendation here to remember. European European alternatives could be a French Beaujolais red made from the Gamay grapes.
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There’s this village that is called Saint-Amour, which means Saint love if you wish, in French. So that’s a really great, great classic for us for Valentine’s Day here in France. Many people like to have this one because of the name, but also because it’s got this similar, satisfying, fruit driven style as Pinot Noir and it’s a bit different and it’s delicious.
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Saint-Amour. Now if your partner has a sweet tooth when it comes to wine, there are two suggestions that make me salivate just thinking about them. First is Sauternes. This is a French sweet wine from the Bordeaux region just south of Bordeaux that is known for really complex flavors of apricot, honey and pitch—peach. But it’s also profound and complex because it’s made from grapes that are shriveled by noble rot, which is a rare, ancient process for making intricate, sweet wines.
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If you’ve never tried one, try it. It’s superb. It pairs well with foie gras, for example, or blue cheese. Then there’s always a safe choice when it comes to sweet wine that is Moscato d’Asti, this Italian sparkling that is really light in alcohol, sweetness fizzy with some bursting fruit flavors of fresh grapes and stone fruits, always a crowd pleaser for those who don’t like austere wines, but much prefer those who that taste more like fruit juice.
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It’s perfect with desserts or as an aperitif. And beyond moscato, I would go short on sparkling wines as everything’s been written and said about them for Valentine’s Day before me. But my 2-cent perspective on it, my take, if you want French champagne, try to find a blanc de noir if you can. Those are made from red grapes, from champagne, refined pinot noir, so they’re a bit fruitier in styling and softer.
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So very, very pleasing if you don’t want to something too sophisticated. If you go with an Italian prosecco, which many do, very popular style, try to find a higher appellation one, like a Conegliano Valdobbiadene, or Asolo or Treviso as those are our finer expressions and more importantly that are made with more care by the producers. If you want to go outside of these beaten tracks, I’d recommend investing in a high end Spanish cava if you can find one.
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As you can often find a carefully crafted top cuvée for the price of a low to mid range champagne. So it’s always a fantastic option. You have to investigate and dig a little deeper, but it’s always a good option. Or if you want something Italian and if you can find if you want to find the real alternative to French champagne from Italy.
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Franciacorta: those are real bottle fermented alternatives to champagne. Really, really well crafted, while Prosecco is a bit more of an industrial winemaking process. Franciacorta is very fine and super interesting. And as promised, here is the perfect dream menu for your romantic Valentine’s Day dinner. Not that you need to cook all of these dishes, we would all absolutely love if our other half would make all of this for us.
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But perhaps at least you can find a few interesting wine and food pairing ideas in what follows. So course number one, how many courses do you think we’re going to make here? Remember, I’m French, so let’s find out. Course Number One is titled, of course, Aperitif. Assorted canapés of smoked salmon, fish eggs and or foie gras on toast with a glass of champagne or one of the above mentioned sparkling to start the evening on a bubbly note.
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Course Number Two, the entrees. Simple seared scallops. There’s no need to make anything complicated with a lemon butter sauce paired with a light and crisp, Marlborough Kiwi sauvignon blanc. Course Number Three, the soup. Yes. A creamy lobster bisque served in a very small little glasses. We don’t need much of that. Just a burst of intense flavors to accompany these, either a rich and creamy chardonnay or a Spanish albarino. Course
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Number Four, Hors d’Oeuvre, or the salad. Let’s say we get a salad with some goat cheese and a bit of pears and walnuts on a glass of fruity rosé.. I didn’t mention rosé or suggest any before, as I don’t really have any suggestions other than the one you like. They’re all appropriate for Valentine’s Day, I think, if only for that color.
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Course Number Five, the pièce de résistance. The piece de résistance, the main course. Beef Wellington with roasted potatoes and asparagus on a full bodied Bordeaux red or an extreme altitude Malbec from Argentina, or a fruity Pinot noir from Burgundy or New Zealand for a lighter choice . Course Number Six, honey, fine cheeses with the fig jam and some crackers or a baguette
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bread, with that sweet Sauternes that I was telling you about. Or a bold shiraz red, if you want a red that has really big shoulders. Course Number Seven, and we’re not done yet, gâteau, or the dessert, the cake, a chocolate and always a raspberry coulis paired with a sweet and slightly sparkling moscato d’Asti, of course.
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And to finish, let’s call it Course Number Eight, the digestif. Some macarons with coffee and a glass of vintage port. How does that sound? Make sure to drink half a glass of sparkling water between each of these courses and glasses of wine. It’s going to be better for you. Have fun, bon apetit, and enjoy, and I will see you soon in the wonderful world of wine. Cheers.
