{"id":21,"date":"2008-01-31T01:11:19","date_gmt":"2008-01-31T01:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=21"},"modified":"2008-02-15T19:10:25","modified_gmt":"2008-02-15T19:10:25","slug":"a-romantic-valentine%e2%80%99s-day-dinner-includes-great-wine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/?p=21","title":{"rendered":"A Romantic Valentine’s Day Dinner Includes Great Wine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ValentinesValentine’s Day is a time for lovers to share a romantic dinner together with delicious food and wine. <\/span>The exact history of Valentine’s Day and its patron saint is a bit of a mystery dating back to ancient times. <\/span>We do know that Valentine’s Day today is a fun holiday associated with celebrating <\/font>romantic love<\/font><\/span><\/a>. <\/span>Couples express their love for each other by sending <\/font>Valentine’s Day cards<\/font><\/span><\/a>, giving gifts of chocolate, or flowers, and enjoying a romantic dinner together with their favorite food and wine!<\/font><\/p>\n

We share some great wine and food pairings as suggestions for your special dinner. <\/span>These romantic dinners are being offered by some terrific New England<\/st1:place> restaurants. <\/span>The exact food and wine pairing may not be offered on your favorite restaurant menu or even on your home cooked menu. <\/span>The idea here is to take some time before February 14th<\/sup> and plan ahead to include some Very Good wine with your special meal. <\/span>You would probably rather spend your candlelight dinner gazing into your lover’s eyes, rather than laboring over the thick wine list passed to you by the Sommelier. <\/span>For a complete list of tips on how to preplan your restaurant wine selections, click here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/font><\/p>\n

\"CHAs Valentine’s Day is a special occasion, this romantic dinner calls for a cork-popping Champagne<\/st1:place> toast to begin the evening. <\/span>I strongly suggest an offering that is special and will start the evening off right. <\/span>A “can’t miss” sparkling wine selection is the NV Charles Heidsieck “Brut Reserve.”<\/a><\/strong> <\/span>This Champagne<\/st1:place><\/st1:state> is a terrific choice that is certain to enhance the evening and set the romantic mood.<\/font><\/p>\n

\"MountainThis Valentine’s Day we thought it would be fun to pair wines with food from some of the best restaurants in New England<\/st1:place>. <\/span>We inquired and were lucky enough to get a “sneak peak” at the Valentine’s Day menu from the Mountain View Grand Resort and Spa<\/strong><\/a> in Whitefield<\/st1:city>, New Hampshire<\/st1:state><\/st1:place>. <\/span>We picked one entr\u00e9e option from their Valentine’s Day menu. <\/span>For each part of these meals, you could order either a white or a red wine to go with the meal according to your preference. <\/span>We will give you a few wine suggestions below. <\/span>The entr\u00e9e we chose is the Cochon et Crevette which consists of an Herb Marinated Pork Tenderloin with a Maple Apple Demi Sauce and Maine Lobster Cake and Citrus Shrimp. <\/span>It is accompanied by a chef’s selection of starch and vegetables.<\/font><\/p>\n

Below are three wine selections to pair with the meals above. <\/span>Of the three, the Pinot Noir probably goes best with most of the menu options above. <\/span>I also like an easy going Syrah for the tenderloin and a solid Sauvignon Blanc for the seafood. <\/span>One of our favorite Pinot Noir selections is the 2005 Hartford<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> Court “Land’s Edge Vineyards” Pinot Noir<\/a><\/strong>. <\/span>I think it would pair nicely with the richness of the lobster cake or the maple apple sauce. <\/span>If you prefer Syrah, I suggest an easy going option like the 2006 Water Wheel Shiraz<\/st1:place><\/st1:city><\/a><\/strong>. <\/span>For you white wine lovers, I suggest the 2006 Mulderbosch Sauvignon Blanc<\/a><\/strong>. <\/span>This wine would greatly complement either meal.<\/font><\/p>\n

\"TheOur second restaurant menu “sneak peak” is “The Spiced Pear” at The Chanler in Newport<\/st1:place><\/st1:city><\/a>,<\/strong> Rhode Island<\/st1:place><\/st1:state>. <\/span>Chef Ketchum has assembled a five coarse meal enhanced by several Aphrodisiacs. <\/span>His opening course is broiled Wellfleet Oysters with Smoked Bacon, Wilted Spinach and Meyer Lemon Hollandaise Sauce. <\/span>For this delicious meal I suggest the Heidsieck Champagne<\/a><\/strong> as noted above. <\/span>The second course is Nantucket Bay Scallops served with a fricassee of baby mushrooms, butternut squash, and celery root puree sauce perigeux. <\/span>For this you can continue with the champagne or move on to a Tuscan Red like the 2004 Sette Ponti “Crognolo.”<\/a><\/strong> <\/font> <\/span><\/span>This Sangiovese and Merlot blend will really complement the mushrooms and transition nicely into the Kobe<\/st1:city><\/st1:place> beef option in the third course. <\/span>The first half of the third course is Butter Braised European Turbot (flatfish) with a Parsnip Mousseline. <\/span>For this pairing I suggest a Chardonnay such as the 2006 Artesa “Carneros” Chardonnay<\/a><\/strong>. <\/span>The second half of the third course is a Kobe Beef Oxtail with a “Bone Marrow Bordelaise”. <\/span>Again, you could stick with the “Crognolo” or try the 2004 Stonehedge Winery “Terroir Select – Pallini Ranch” Petite Sirah<\/a><\/strong>. <\/span>It you wanted to top off the evening with a high end suggestion, you might want to try the 2004 Darioush “Signature” Cabernet Sauvignon<\/a><\/strong> which is another fine choice.<\/font><\/p>\n

For dessert we are going to suggest a couple of wines. <\/span>We like the Fritz 2006 “Late Harvest” Zinfandel<\/a><\/strong>. <\/span>This wine goes particularly well with Chocolate covered cherries, strawberries, and lovers<\/strong><\/a>. We are also a big fan of many of the 2005 dessert Rieslings from Germany<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place>. <\/span>Try the <\/font>2005 Dr. Loosen “Wehlener Sonnenuhr – Auslese.”<\/strong><\/a> This will go particularly well with a Cheese and Green Apple plate or Cr\u00e8\u00ad\u00a5 br?ute;e.<\/font><\/p>\n

As you know, choosing the wines is a personal preference, just like choosing your dinner. <\/span>Everyone’s palate is different. <\/span>The wine suggestions above are Very Good, if not Excellent choices. <\/span>There is not one perfect wine match for a meal, but instead many very good wine matches. <\/span>You should select a wine or wine(s) that will satisfy your palate, enhance your meal, and make your evening special. <\/span>Enjoy your Valentine’s Day and make it one of your most romantic evenings of the year with delicious food and wine!<\/font><\/p>\n

Cheers,<\/font><\/p>\n

<\/font><\/p>\n

Ken<\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valentine’s Day is a time for lovers to share a romantic dinner together with delicious food and wine. The exact history of Valentine’s Day and its patron saint is a bit of a mystery dating back to ancient times. We do know that Valentine’s Day today is a fun holiday associated with celebrating romantic love. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,40,8,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-romantic-dinner","category-valentines-day","category-wine-recommendations","category-wine-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=21"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=21"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=21"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kenswineguide.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=21"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}