Valentine's Day Dinner

She Said:

In years past, we have gone out to a restaurant for Valentine's Day and in other years past, it simply wasn't important. Valentine's Day is really one of those made-up holidays and we don't normally fall into the whole cards-flowers-chocolate thing. But we do try to get a nice meal out of it!

Last night, we decided to stay home and cook, which is really becoming more and more prevalent in our lives. We do like our home-cooked meals! But we had been running around like crazy people all day so we sort of took a few short cuts. But not completely.

Our meal started with some baked clams (already prepared and ready to cook from Wegmans, our favorite grocery store - ever!) and Champagne. We went with our standard, Moet & Chandon White Star. It's tried and true.

For dinner, we had a twice-baked potato - absolutely heavenly with green onions, bacon, and Cheddar cheese - a small Spring mix salad with a tarragon vinaigrette, and a crab cake (also, already prepared and ready to cook from Wegmans). While Wegmans' crab cakes are only second on the list of best crab cakes (the ones we make are the best), they were still really, really good. We complemented the dinner very nicely with a Gary Farrell Sauvignon Blanc.

For dessert, we had some pre-made individual trifles (yes, from Wegmans). He had a chocolate/strawberry trifle and I had a vanilla/raspberry/white chocolate trifle. We paired them with a Stump Jump Sticky Chardonnay, which, admittedly, went better with my vanilla trifle than with His chocolate trifle. His would have been better with a glass of port, I think.

All-in-all, a fabulous dinner and remarkably well put-together for as little time as we spent planning it.

Happy Valentine's Day!

How Sweet It Is!

Three Rivers Late Harvest Gewürztraminer, $18 for 375 ml bottle

She Said:

I had my first sweet wine when I was about 20 years old. I was sipping port in front of a crackling fireplace, listening to Ella Fitzgerald. My next sweet wine was the sherry that I sipped sitting in front of a huge window that overlooked a beautiful marina in St. Michael's, MD many years later. The next time I had sweet wine was a bottle of port that He and I drank while listening to classical music and opera at the best B&B in the world in Eaton Center, NH.

I was totally hooked from the very start.

Sweet wines, for me, though, are rather situational. I wouldn't want to drink them on a regular basis for fear of them losing their "special." And they are special.

We are members of three monthly wine clubs here in Pennsylvania. They are three different levels of price but every month the themes are similar. This past month it was celebratory wines. We got three sweet wines to try. Last night, we finished the bottle of Three Rivers Late Harvest Gewürztraminer. We drank it over two nights. The first night was amazing because of the situation. We had had our Valentine's Day dinner and the Gewürztraminer was dessert. It was the perfect ending of the perfect meal. Last night was good, too, but not like that first night.

I do love those special occasions where I get to sit and drink in the wine and the wonder all around me. Sweet wines put the exclamation point on a great time for me. Whether it's port or sherry or ice wine or a late harvest anything, it's simply lovely.

_________________________________

He Said:

Seriously, you had me at "Late Harvest". We had the opportunity to try Three Rivers Late Harvest Gewürztraminer the other night and man, that is some tasty drinkin' right there. Sweet, thick and just right when you're looking for just a little sump'n sump'n after a fine meal. It's not for everyday drinking but if you haven't tried a late harvest sweet wine on a nice, quiet evening with your significant other then you just haven't lived. So go grab some Billie Holiday, lower the lights, pour a little of this sweet nectar into your glass and share it with someone you love. Now that's a recipe we can all enjoy!

Perrier-Jouët Champagne

1996 Perrier-Jouët Champagne Cuvée Fleur de Champagne $129

She Said:

"He" and I celebrate Christmas with a long-standing tradition. Each year, we go pick out wines or spirits that we would not normally buy - something exquisite. This year, one of the things we purchased was this Perrier-Jouët Champagne. I had had my eye on it for years because the bottle is so pretty. And, of course, it's expensive! With much anticipation, we opened the bottle and poured out our first glass. "Hmmm," I thought. "This is different."

I'm used to a light, bubbly, fruity Champagne (granted, I don't drink a whole lot of French Champagne but I've had my fair share - and several other people's fair shares, too, I would guess!) This Champagne, by comparison, tasted more like a non-sparkling wine. It had plenty of bubbles but it was definitely not a light bright wine. The first glass was questionable, in my opinion. But by the time we poured the last glass of it, we had acquired the taste and it was very good – just not what I expect from a Champagne. We probably won’t get the Perrier-Jouët again but it was nice to try it and the bottle is indeed beautiful!

_______________________________________


He Said:

Have you ever wondered how a $130 bottle of champagne tastes? I know I always have and this year, on Christmas Eve, I got to find out. Yep, this year She and I splurged big time and got ourselves a beautiful bottle of Perrier-Jouët Champagne. You know this bottle, right? Hand painted flowers on a beautiful green bottle? Oh man, I was dying to taste it! We usually drink Moet and Chandon White Star, which I think is great, but this was going to be something really special, I just knew it!

I popped the cork on the 'pagne and poured two glasses. Right away we noticed a difference. This wasn't the usual bright sparkly wine that we were used to. No, this actually had some color to it. "Hmmm...interesting", I interestingly thought to myself. With great trepidation and excitement, She and I looked at each other, raised our glasses to a toast, the wine touched our lips and...and...and we sipped.

*blink*

Ok, that's sort of weird tasting. I figured that I must need to get used to it a little. No prob.

Sip. Sip. Sip. Sip. And so on.

Well, when all was said and done, I actually did acquire a taste for it. In fact, by the time we finished the bottle, I was really wishing that we had more. Maybe just one more bottle. Ok, maybe two. Sadly, we did not, and so we moved on to more normal fare for the remainder of the evening (which was really quite lovely, even if I do say so myself).

So in the end, was it worth $130? In my mind, no. Sure, it was very smooth and was quite delicious but I would just as soon have my White Star, which is, bytheway, plenty pricey for me. I'm glad I tried the Perrier-Jouët, but I don't think I'll be buying it again in the near future. I guess my champagne tastes just aren't quite hoity enough.


Of course, if someone wants to buy me another bottle......