Tips for a romantic Valen-wines Day

Wine with Hillary: The wines that keep on giving

Greetings, dear readers, and a toast to my final wine column of the semester. I would like to make a few notes on giving wine as a gift as we enter the holiday season. A bottle of wine makes a wonderful gift for several reasons. It's something that can keep for a long time (at least several months if stored properly). You can buy something really special for relatively little money, as $20.00 gets you a much better bottle of wine than bouquet of flowers.

Wine with Hillary: Answers are blowin' in the wine

With the weather being so screwy lately, I've had a difficult time limiting myself to one season's type of wine. The blizzard definitely made me break out the heavier, darker wine in my collection, but the mild sunny weather that followed on its heels made me think of spring and wines that echo the fresh greenness that will appear sometime in April, if we're lucky. Below, an eclectic mix that suits the current climate:

Wine with Hillary

Tips for a romantic Valen-wines Day

This piece represents the opinion of the author:

February 3, 2006

Ah February, month of the Superbowl, Olympics, Groundhog Day, Presidents Day, Black History Month and . . . what's that last one? Right, Valentine's Day. Rah (shakes pseudo-pom-pom apathetically). Bitter, moi? Au contraire, in the spirit of Hallmark I'm reviewing three wines for the grape-hearted, 11 days early.

Renwood 2003 Viognier ($11.99 at Provisions)

This is the wine equivalent of lacey bridal lingerie. This white has a decidedly floral taste to it, "very different than any white I've ever had before" says my roommate the champion of white wine drinkers. Mary, the fantastic gal who recommended it to me describes it thus: "a perfectly executed waltz." If you don't appreciate fine, delicate, spring-like notes, this is not the wine for you. If you're a botanical garden picnic-er, pack this up and bring some strawberries and marscapone to complete the day.

X Winery "Syrahtica" 2003 Syrah ($14.99 at Provisions)

If your taste is more black bra and panties than pink baby doll, this is your wine. Beyond the incredibly sexy bottle (hint, invert for secret sexiness), the wine inside is fantastic. The flavor is definitely aimed at a more sensitive palate. It doesn't need to breathe or a snack date. In fact, food would spoil the "mellow" taste of this red. You don't get an immediate taste reaction "it's hardly there"; but upon the second and third sips, the subtle spices and even more delicate fruit tastes surface. This California syrah is a winner; if you don't want to take my and my tasters' word for it, the San Francisco Chronicle awarded this wine a gold medal this year.

Principessa Perlante 2002 ($8.49 for the half-bottle at Black Sheep)

If come the "dreaded V-day" you're alone in your room, cursing the couple banging the boards next door, I've the ideal solution: some loud classical music and the half-bottle size of this cool semi-sparkling white. The flavor is dry and the fizzy quality gives an added dimension to the flavor (clean, crisp and green). The bottle itself is elegant, and anyone drinking it will feel like a Cary Grant bachelor. The best part about this little bubbling miracle is the price?$8.49. You can get one for you and one for your favorite platonic friend. If you're part of a group of dedicated anti-Valentines-ers, you can also buy full-sized bottles for slightly less than double the price of the half-bottle.

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