Grae Gram

Love, love, love, Love is in the air, accompanied by tunes from Sade's "Cherish The Day."

So you might ask, what is a good pairing for a day filled with an abundance of love, other than just, great music.
I'm sure you already know the answer: WINE.

My question to you is, for your inevitable Big V-day, what will you be filling your glass with? If you aren't sure yet, I may have some suggestions for you.

Starting up my suggestions, I'm leading off with a white wine, and because Riesling
is considered one of the most flexible grapes in regards to pairings, I decided that Clos Du Bois Riesling (found at most supermarkets) would be a nice precursor wine to start the dinner, or your night in
general.

So on the nose, there is a spicy apple and blue-stone minerality. When consuming this wine the major highlights are the spicy pear, jasmine and lemon spritz. Look to pair with seafood: shrimp, crabcakes and oysters. After the Riesling, when the night starts to get a bit more serious, and you want to start turning up the heat, a great wine, and I've said it before in a former write up, seek out the Bruno Porro San Luigi Dolcetto di Dogiani 2007 (Trader Joe's).
This wine is just smooth and sexy, that's all that needs to be said.
For tasting notes, check out my blog, October 13, 2009 posting. Look to pair this Dolcetto with skirt steak, and herbaceous chicken dishes.
Now that the mood has been set, there are decisions to be made. For those looking for a serious bottle that's complex enough to enhance your dinner and also has enough structure and fruit to stand alone, you may want to check out the 2007 Juan Gill from Spain (World Markets).
On the nose of this wine, there are tones of earthy red plums, cassis, and vanilla. Also in nooks of this nose I pick up blueberries and tobacco. When tasting the Juan Gill, I taste mineral-laden strawberries and tobacco. Up the middle of the tongue there are also nuances of green herbs and vanilla with a nice backbone of firm tannins. If eating is done, and you are looking for a wine, that in my opinion, is better when not accompanied with food,try the Jade Mountain 2007 La Provencale. Warning, this is a Fruit forward and palate coating type of wine. When smelling this wine there is peppercorn, hints of broccoli, herbaceous red fruit, hints of cocoa notes and an interesting apricot thing going on. Tasting this wine, I enjoy black-cherry and black-berries dancing throughout my palate. There is
a enormous fruit in this wine, with some green herbs on the outsides of the palate and rasberries running up the middle of my tongue.

I even pick up some chocolate in the Jade Mountain from the mid to finish, and what a long finish. A beautifully complex fruit forward wine that I hope you get a chance to drink it, and enjoy. So there you have it, those are my picks for Valentines Day, for those who take my advice, thank you, for those who don't, whatever you are drinking with your special person that night, drink responsibly and be safe, I know I will.

Happy Valentine's Day.