It's Valentine's day this Saturday and many of us will be planning to buy
chocolates, flowers and aphrodisiac foods,
so where does wine come into it. Martin will be discussing its role on News Talk 106FM’s Dublin Life show today
(11/2/2004) after the 3pm.
The heading says it all. The right mood
and food are of course important but a couple of glasses of good wine will
certainly loosen inhibitions more effectively than a box of Milk Tray or
half a dozen oysters.
The quote "And what exactly was it
that attracted you to the millionaire?" highlights just what an
aphrodisiac money is too, so on this day of days for lovers, my advice is
not to stint on the quality of wine that you buy. No celebration is
complete without bubbles and that means Champagne. Tradition has it that
it should be pink and the ones to buy are Billecart Salmon, Laurent
Perrier or Moët & Chandon.
Personally I much prefer regular Champagne
and the Wine Republic 2004 Joint Champagnes of the Year were Bollinger
and Charles Heidseick. However today in studio we'll be tasting
Duval-Leroy, 87/100, around €35.00 from
Cheers Silver granite in Palmerstown, Cheers Gibneys in Malahide and
Talbot Off-Licence in Talbot St and Lynch's in Cork. It may be a new name
to you but several French Michelin 3 star restaurants list it and leading
Champagne expert and author on the subject Tom Stevenson calls it a seriously
underrated high quality house.
If money is no object then buy your
favourite deluxe bottle. Cristal probably has the most bling bling,
although I prefer DP, Grande Dame or Laurent Perrier's Grand Siècle.
As for whites and reds, you'll want to
feel at your best latter so my advice is to stick to lighter styles that
will seem less sickly or over blown than some of the huge extracted ripe
styles available. this means French classics. Nothing is better than a
good Chablis 1ere cru, especially if having oysters. Beaujolais should
come into its own here with it's lighter style and its wonderful village
names such as St Amour and Fleurie or love and flowers. St Amour is hard
to find in Ireland but there's plenty of Fleurie about and Drouhin is
pretty reliable.
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