Romantic dinner right at home

If you forgot to make that dinner reservation on what is now the second busiest night of the year for restaurants, chances are you won’t find one at this late date. But there is no need to panic, you can still pull off a romantic dinner at home with an hour or two of work today.

The good news is you will have much more wine for your money at home than what you would pay in a restaurant and you can buy something you really want. Add to that no parking, taxi or transit fees, no additional taxes or tip and you have yourself a formidable budget to spend solely on wine and food.

I’ll leave you to your food choices but consider keeping the menu simple. Comfort dishes work well as do one-dish dinners. Store-bought (homemade) stuffed pasta could be just the ticket. Ravioli, agnolotti or tortellini fit the bill and your choice of romantic fillings could include ricotta cheese, mushrooms, lobster or butternut squash. After that simply select the appropriate sauce tomato, cheese, olive oil, pesto — and you are good to go.

A whole-roasted chicken with rosemary potatoes or a pair of T-bone steaks or veal chops with a Caesar salad will get the job done too; just let the wine fill in the edges. Dessert can be equally simple. Berries and fresh cream, panna cotta, crème brûlée, cheesecake or a few well-chosen high quality chocolates and you are all set. Any of these items can be purchased during the day. All you need do is present them artfully.

Now to the wine.

I’m not as big on colour as I am on texture for Valentine’s with the possible exception of rosé champagne. If there is a moment made for sparkling wine with a highly attractive pink hue, it is Valentine’s Day. After that, texture rules and the evening’s wines should be only about soft tannins and smooth, silky textures. My suggestions revolve around chardonnay, viognier and riesling whites or merlot, malbec, pinot noir or zinfandel for the reds and while the sound of a cork coming out of a bottle may be romantic wine is infinitely more sexy when poured from a plain glass, decanter. Add a pair of quality, over-sized wine glasses and you can’t go wrong.

I’ve searched the inventory at BC Liquor Stores and I’m sure some combination of the following wines should make the evening special. Our chardonnay choice is La Crema Chardonnay 2012, Sonoma Coast ($29). A viognier suggestion is the bargain Paul Mas Viognier 2013 ($14) from the Languedoc. The riesling pick is the delicious Quails’ Gate Dry Riesling 2013 ($17) from the Okanagan Valley.

The red wine picks begin with the hedonistic, plush Trivento Golden Reserve Malbec 2012 ($23). Our luscious merlot label would be Casa Lapostolle Merlot Cuvée Alexandre Merlot 2012 ($30) from Apalta Valley, Chile. For a sweet, round, silky pinot choose the Erath Pinot Noir 2012 ($33) from Willamette Valley, Oregon. Finally, the zinfandel to make your night would be Rock Wall Wine Co. Zinfandel Jesse’s Vineyard 2012 ($37), a super-rich, silky, warm red with spicy blueberry/brambleberry, pipe tobacco flavours. The night is young.