Valentines – Love, seduction.. some suggestions for your day.

So chatting with friends I usually get asked for any new recommendations for wine, beer or spirits… with valentines up-coming so did the topic of going for pinks or not…

Pinks are always fun and cute for Valentines but after thinking about it I asked what they wanted from their evening, as in light breezy, more seductive or maybe a slight blend…

For wine, if you want to go bright breezy then a good pink bubbly followed by either a more reasonably priced bottle of bubbles or a lovely rose from the Loire should fit the bill. If a blend of fun and seduction then bubbles (Celtic Whiskey shop has some half bottles on sale for €9.99) followed by an elegant red. For me nothing says seduction than a northern Italian red especially a Brunello di Montalcino– pure seduction! It does depend on your menu and budget. If cash is a touch tight go for its second wine Rosso di Montalcino which is quite beautiful.

But what if you want to go down the beer route? Well thanks to the surge in craft beer production there is an even greater selection. And choosing beer doesn’t mean you still can’t have some pink. In this case you could go for a bottle or two of Fruli (pink – strawberry Belgian beer). If pink is not a preference I think the White Hags Heather ale is beautiful and a touch romantic. I would follow either with a Trappist beer or two. Le Trappe has larger share bottles. And to finish I would go with the ever so seductive Westvleteren X

As for Spirits, to keep the pink theme start with a Cosmo but avoid cheap spirits if at all possible, you don’t want to ruin your evening. Now if you want to stick with cocktails and seduction I would go with a daiquiri (strawberry if you want pink) by using good quality rum as this will up the seduction and it will be smoother and more appealing on the palate.

For whiskey lovers start Irish, with one of Ireland’s few single malts the Tyrconnell possibly moving on the elegant smoky Laphroaig 10yr.

As I said menus and budgets will play into your choice, as for pink… It is valentines and the one time of year nobody will make a comment plus it is not that often most of us go pink, so a good choice can enhance and make your evening that bit more romantic.