Forget flowers, buy rosés for Valentine’s Day

Treve Ring

This Valentine’s Day show your affection to your sweetie with a bottle, or few, of rosé. Rosé wines reach from bone dry and elegant, to sparkling and celebratory and through to sweet and sultry. Just as pink is the half way hue between white and red on the colour spectrum, drinking pink offers up the best of both in the wine worlds. You get the freshness and acidity of white wines, plus the structure, berry fruit and tannin presence of reds. This matrimony of styles makes rose wines particularly food-friendly, and the darling of many sommeliers and chefs. You needn’t be either to pick a pack of rosés to suit your Valentine’s Day plans, whether it’s a romantic multicourse dinner à deux, a solo supper or a brunch with family and friends.

Forget flowers, buy rosés.

BUBBLY

I’d put forth that sparkling is on my mind in advance of Vancouver International Wine Festival, and their Global Focus this year on Bubbly, but that would be a bit of a pink lie because bubbles are always on my mind.

Haywire Pink Bub 2012 is a new release just in time for Valentine’s Day, a lively, crisp orange and pear blossomed traditional method bubble from a cooler mountain site near Oliver in the southern Okanagan. 8 th Generation Confidence 2012 is another Okanagan mainstay, this one in an off-dry frizzante style, topped with a crown cap and blended from merlot, pinot noir, dunkelfelder, pinot gris and viognier. Henry Of Pelham N/V Cuvee Catharine Rosé Brut from the Niagara Peninsula is a perennial favourite, a classy and classic traditional method sparkler with juicy raspberry and strawberry fruit. Segura Viudas Brut Rosé NV is a regular visitor to my fridge, a bright cava welcome for its value and consistent red apple and pomegranate fruit.

Just released in Ontario (already in BC & Quebec) is Louis Bouillot Perle d’Aurore Brut Rosé Crémant De Bourgogne from Burgundy. It has all the class if not the depth of pink Champagne, at one third the price. If you have a Champagne budget this Valentine’s Day, then nothing but Champagne will do. Laurent Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut NV is as distinctive a bottle as it is in the flute; elegant and full-bodied, with fine mousse and notes of strawberry, cream, brioche, dark cherry and mineral and a lingering cherry-currant finish.

STILL

There are as many styles of still rosés out there as there are fish in the sea. I’m sure I’d make a horrible human matchmaker, but I can definitely help find the perfect rosé for you this Valentine’s Day. And who knows what wine-savvy drinker you’ll meet in the rosé aisle of your liquor store…

Once again Spain shines with delicious, affordable selections. Marques de Caceres 2012 Rioja Rosado  from Rioja was category champion at the 2013 World Wine Awards, and it’s no wonder with the dusty floral, stonefruit and wild strawberry notes. Pair with paella! If a Hollywood romcom Netflicks marathon and a couch is the plan for this weekend, go all out and chill a bottle of Miraval Rosé 2012, from Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s Côtes De Provence winery. No fluffy rosé here though – the Perrin family (Chateauneuf-du-Pape) are bringing their ample winemaking credibility to this delicate, aromatic, herbal wild strawberry wine. If you are looking for a fuller, creamier, more substantial rosé, BC benchmark JoieFarm Re Think Pink Rose 2012 will suit in spades. The blend shifts annually depending on grapes and vintage, but the profile always feels pleasantly familiar: a touch off-dry, with desert sage, wild strawberries and structured cherries.

SWEET

Sweets for your sweetie, right? Classic sommelier pairing of like + like = like a lot? There are rivers of sweet wines out there, but I’ve selected a few with a definite rosy glow, sure to be passed along to your cheeks after a couple of glasses.

Why not kick off the weekend with a cocktail? Croft Pink was the very first pink port on the market and aimed at a new generation of port drinkers. I like this fortified wine over ice with a wedge of orange. Southbrook Vineyards Framboise from Ontario does double duty, carrying cocktails with its concentrated raspberry, or as a fine match for dark chocolate. If you’re looking for a rare gem, you must fine one of Australia’s sensational stickies. Chambers Rosewood Rutherglen Muscat is an outstanding example on this market, with generous waves of raisin, dried apricot and honey. And naturally, I will suggest a Canadian icewine in case you’re pairing wines to Olympic viewing. Inniskillin Okanagan Estate Tempranillo Icewine 2012 scores a gold medal for being adventurous enough to attempt an icewine from tempranillo grapes, with tasty caramelized brown sugar and boysenberry results.

A GIFT BEYOND A BOTTLE

If you’re looking for a gift beyond a bottle, why not treat your special someone to tickets for the Vancouver International Wine Festival. Now in its 36th vintage, the VIWF is one of the top wine festivals in North America, offering something for every level of wine drinker, collector and trade professional. Winery principals (winemaker, proprietor, senior executive) representing 178 selected wineries from 14 countries will be in attendance to pour and discuss their wines. Every year, this international festival shines the spotlight on one country or region, and this year the country is France. As mentioned above, the global focus for 2014 is Bubbly, and many will be poured throughout the week of seminars, dinners, minglers, brunches and at the heart of the festival – the tasting room floor. NEW this year, and highly welcome, is a partnership with beVancouver. If you book a room between February 20 and March 9, 2014 at a participating downtown hotel (there are 37 to choose from), and you’ll get ONE FREE TICKET (value up to $89) to your choice of four International Festival Tastings. Book two nights, and you’ll get TWO FREE TICKETS (value up to $178).

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Treve Ring