Anthony Gismondi: Wines on sale to pair with Valentine dinner at home

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When you read this, Valentine’s Day will only be days away. If you chose not to make a dinner reservation on what is now the second busiest night of the year for restaurants, chances are all the prime-time seats will be gone. You still have time to pull off a romantic dinner at home, complete with a few suggestions from us and only a little work.

The good news is that your buying power has increased dramatically because your wine and food bill will now be only a third of what it would be at the restaurant, and you save the cost of tipping. Add to that no parking, taxi or transit fees, and a lot of the liquor tax because you only pay 10 per cent on the store price of your bottle instead of the same tax on the highly inflated restaurant wine list price. That could leave you a formidable amount to spend solely on your Valentine.

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When it comes to food, keep the menu simple. Comfort dishes are always a hit, as are any one-dish dinner. Store-bought stuffed pasta could be just the ticket. Ravioli, agnolotti or tortellini and your romantic fillings could include ricotta cheese, mushrooms, lobster or butternut squash. After that, select the appropriate sauce ― tomato, cheese, olive oil, pesto, and you are ready. Poké tuna sushi or sashimi dishes are easily purchased.

A whole-roasted chicken with rosemary potatoes or a pair of T-bone steaks or veal chops with a Caesar salad will get the job done, too — just let the wine fill in the edges. Dessert can be equally simple. Berries and fresh cream, panna cotta, crème brûlée, cheesecake or a few well-chosen high-quality chocolates and you are set. These items can be purchased beforehand; you only need to present them artfully. Now to the wine.

I’m not as big on colour as on texture for Valentine’s, except when it comes to rosé Champagne. If there is a moment made for Champagne with a beautiful pink hue, it is Valentine’s Day. After that, the texture should rule the evening’s wines. That means soft tannins and smooth, silky textures. That can take you to New World Chardonnay with buttery, oak tones, Viognier and off-dry Riesling for whites or Merlot, Malbec, Pinot Noir or Zinfandel for the reds. You can up the mystery by employing a clear glass decanter that will enrich any wine with a few minutes of oxygen and is infinitely more sexy when poured from a plain glass decanter. Add a pair of oversized wine glasses, and you can’t go wrong.

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I’ve searched the inventory at B.C. liquors stores, including sale-priced wines (SP), and I’m pretty sure some combination of the following wines will make your evening memorable. For Chardonnay, our choice is the Cambria 2021 Chardonnay Katherine’s Vineyard, Santa Maria Valley, California $31.99 (SP). The Paul Mas 2021 Viognier, Vin de Pays d’Oc, France $14.99 (SP), is an inexpensive Viognier with weight and richness. Our pick for an off-dry Riesling for any spicy dish you plan would be the Tantalus 2022 Riesling, East Kelowna $30.99 (SP).

The red wine picks begin with the hedonistic, plush Clos de los Siete 2017, Valle de Uco, Argentina $24.99 (SP). Our luscious Merlot label would be the Tightrope Winery 2020 Merlot Fleet Road Vineyard, Okanagan Valley, $30. We like the Sanford 2020 Pinot Noir, Santa Rita Hills, California $49.99 for a round, silky Pinot. Finally, the zinfandel to make your night would be elegant, stylish, full-flavoured, jammy berry fruit Seghesio 2020 Zinfandel, Sonoma County, California. $34.49 (SP).

Dessert is up to you.

We added five more wines to our weekend picks, so get yourself organized and ready for a fun night.

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Weekend wine picks

Bottega Gold Rose Prosecco Spumante Brut N/V, Treviso, Verona, Veneto, Italy

$32.99 I 89/100

UPC: 08005829230388

Sandro Bottega is a force across the Prosecco business, and his Bottega Gold series, sold in painted bottles of gold, silver, and now pink, has gained iconic status overnight. Bottega Gold Rosé is a 100 per cent Pinot Noir with a pale pink colour from limited skin contact. Fresh and lively, the 11.5 per cent alcohol, lightly effervescent pink is fun to quaff. The nose is floral and fruity, while the palate is equally vibrant, mixing red berries with just the right acidity — a great wine to start Valentine’s Day and similarly fun to unwrap as a gift.

Domaine Carneros Cuvée de la Pompadour Brut Rosé N/V, Carneros, Napa Valley, California

$55.99 (SP)  I 89/100

UPC: 084692510542

This multi-vintage mix of 59/41 organically grown Pinot Noir-Chardonnay is at the centre of Pompadour and its red-peach colour. There is a surprising amount of acidity to keep this wine fresh, but it is all strawberries and caramel with some pomegranate and spice on the palate. This is an attractive pre-dinner sipper. Madame de Pompadour — mistress to Louis XV — is credited with introducing Champagne to the Versailles court and inspiring the Brut Rosé Cuvée de la Pompadour.

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Road 13 Seventy-Four K 2019, B.C.

$23.49 I 89/100

UPC: 626990331858

The latest Seventy-Four K has a fantastic fetching texture that fills the wine with dense, fine-grained tannins and a support system for big black fruit. The roundness and softness come from 61 per cent perfectly ripe Merlot, with support from 14 per cent Malbec, 9 per cent Syrah, 8 per cent Petit Verdot, 5 per cent Cabernet Franc and 3 per cent Mourvèdre. It is a magical blend with all you could want in a big, well-constructed Rhone-Bordeaux-Okanagan-Similkameen blend.

Domaine Clef de Saint Thomas Pierre Troupel Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2020, Rhone Valley, France

$55.99 I 91/100

UPC: 37601211036

The Pierre Troupel cuvée and its blue label pay homage to the owner’s grandfather, Sophie Kessler-Matière; he had piercing blue eyes and made Bleu d’Auvergne cheese from the Cantal region. The blend is 50/50 Syrah and Grenache age in traditional stainless steel tanks. The attack with red berry aromas and an underlying mineral is as inviting as the wine. The textures are soft and round with a touch of earth, dried herbs and more generous fruit. Drink or hold. It is one of the best buys locally in the overheated Chateauneuf-du-Pape market.

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Altesino Brunello di Montalcino 2018, Montalcino, Siena, Tuscany, Italy

$59.99 (SP) I 92/100

UPC: 662255010137

Altesino, which produced its first Brunello in 1972, always lets it rest for at least two years in oak and four months in a bottle before release. The year 2018 was very cool in Brunello, offering respite from the overheated seasons both before and after that. As a result, the wine has more balsamic notes, a fresher mid-palate mixed with forest floor and red fruits, and softer tannins. It is not a rich, dense wine this year but a Bordeaux brick-coloured Brunello that overwhelms you with finesse and flavour. It is a Brunello you can drink upon release and enjoy while you wait for the more significant, warmer years.

Calendar items

Chef David Hawksworth and his culinary team are returning for a sixth season, bringing a series of exceptional dining experiences to Steeps Grill & Wine Bar atop Whistler Mountain. Guests are invited to experience a three-course lunch pop-up with reservations starting at 11 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. while immersing themselves in the breathtaking views of the valley. A three-course menu priced at $79 per person showcases seasonal and local ingredients. Hawksworth’s Steeps Grill & Wine Bar pop-ups are priced at $79 per person, and advance reservations are strongly recommended. To secure a table for the upcoming dates, guests are encouraged to call 604-905-2379. Space is limited.

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• • •

While we fret about the future of B.C. wine, the Smithsonian Magazine reports archeologists have uncovered a Roman-era wine shop destroyed following a sudden event that caused its owners to vacate. The 1,600-year-old site is in the ancient city of Sicyon in southern Greece. The shop contained marble tabletops, broken pottery and 60 bronze coins made during Constantius II’s reign, which lasted from 337 to 361. According to researchers, the shop could have sold wine and such as olive oil as part of a building complex that included areas with kilns and tools to press grapes or olives.

B.C. wine of the week

CedarCreek Estate Cabernet Franc 2019, Okanagan Valley, B.C.

$26.99 I 89/100

UPC: 00778913801020

It’s been 20 years since the first Cabernet Franc was grown at CedarCreek, but the winery has only recently produced a single variety. The grapes are grown in the south Okanagan, not all that far from the border. The wine is dense and firm, with a balanced red and black fruit mix. The 2019 year was  impressive up to September, but late rains and cool weather made picking, tricking and selection even more crucial. The wine has all the plummy graphite notes you might expect and roundish tannins with a touch of heat and spice in the back end — a perfect steak wine for a rainy fall day. The final blend is 90/10 Cabernet Franc/Merlot, all fermented in stainless steel and aged for one year in French oak barriques.

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Value wine of the week

Pasqua Romeo & Juliet Passione e Sentimento, Veneto, Italy

$14.99  I  88/100

UPC: 8007880548808

We liked this wine for $18.99; you can buy it now for $4 less. This is an apassimento of Merlot and Corvina grapes, left to dry for one month into wooden trays before wine from the just-fermented grapes is added, kicking off a secondary ferment that lasts one month in stainless steel. Look for soft, pretty raspberry and cherry, blackberry gummies, and pink peppercorn spice on a velvet palate. Low tannins, moderate acidity and gentle spicing.

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