Valentine Wine

It's Valentine's Day and of course, you are sharing wine with your valentine. And, it shouldn't just be any wine, you should plan this out.

If you are going out, your are already likely getting robbed blind because this is one of those days on which people feel the need to go out and so demand exceeds supply and that means prices go up because they can. This is when restaurants charm you with their prox fixe dinners that include the expensive items that they have in stock, but can't move on other days. So, be ready for the mormal dinner to be "upgraded" with fine caviar, real truffles, Knipschildt chocolates or at the very least, Godiva, and pule (cheese from donkey milk ... no, I'm not kidding).

So, what are you drinking with all this?

Since it sounds like dinner without wine pairings is already going to be at least several hundred dollars per person, let's do wine pairings as well.

Assume we are starting with caviar. Caviar is salty, really salty. And, we need something to calm down the salt. Oak is out. If something tastes oaky, it will pair with caviar like oil and water. So, go with something crisp. The classic pairing is Champagne, but there is a rationale for a clean, crisp Chardonnay such as Chablis or with the natural acidity of Sauvignon Blanc. But, since we're splurging, let's go with Champagne. What makes this pairing special is the sort of burst you get when the caviar and Champagne meet near the tip of your tongue. There's something magical about it.

Truffles are among the ultimate savory foods. Extracted from the earth, the perfect pairing is something equally earthy. And, again, we are splurging. With particularly earthy foods, you'll need earthy wines. That suggests age, and we are immediately limited to the ageworthy red wines. You also don't want something too tannic even though the tannins will have calmed over the years. If your wallet and the wine list cooperate, how about a 1959 Cote de Beaune to go with your truffles. If they don't cooperate quite that much, try the same wine, but in a 2005 model. Why those vintages? When you are breaking the bank, break it with a great vintage.

With our chocolate madeleines, we have a choice. Go with a dry wine that from a flavor standpoint can go with the chocolate (think aged Cabernet) perhaps from one of the mountain AVAs in Napa Valley like Howell Mountain, Spring Mountain, or Atlas Peak. But, my preference is vintage Port. And, we are splurging, so let's go with something really good. Perhaps as good a vintage as there has been in a very long time was 1994. And, leading the pack were the Taylor Fladgate and Fonseca. Both of them were awarded top honors by virtually everybody who is anybody. Go for it. It's Valentine's Day.

And, finally, after our chocolate, we are closing with a bit of cheese. Pule, made from donkey milk is about as expensive as any cheese can get. Coming in at more than $100 per ounce, you had better enjoy the one tiny little bite that has been tacked on to your dinner. It's said to be creamy yet crumbly at the same time. It's flavor is like that of Manchego, but far richer and deeper.

Since this cheese is not simply made from donkey milk, but specifically Balkan donkey milk, I'd love to pair with a Balkan wine. But none that I know of will hold up. We'd like a somewhat leathery and savory wine to go with this cheese. So, let's close out our pairings with a 2012 Pingus from Ribera del Duero.

And, after that, we are going to need a dessert wine to close out the night. And, how better to do it than with the quintessential vintage of the quintessential dessert wine. Let's go with an 1811 Chateau d'Yquem. How good is it? At a recent tasting when some wealthy European who wanted to show off one of his prize bottles to a group of the world's best known wine connoisseurs and critics, the wine was described as life-altering and other-wordly. The best ever. And, for you, if you can find it, you should be able to get a bottle for only about 125. Those are thousands of dollars.

But, your Valentine is worth it, right?