Champagne Tea or Dinner Valentine’s Day

Let’s try something new for Valentine’s Day. You’ve already got the card (or sent one by email) and the chocolates. Now comes the celebration. This year, how about a choice? Here are some possibilities, a champagne tea, or a special dinner with wines. Either will be a treat if you are tired of surf and turf and cutesy restaurant ads for two for Valentine’s Day. So here is something new, but with that champagne touch. A champagne tea for Valentine’s Day is an idea whose time has come. It will be more filling than you think, and take the place of your evening meal. Take some time, to set the mood. Do you have a fireplace? This is not the time for one of those artificial logs. Build a real fire, with kindling and split oak to cradle the kindling, and to put on top of the fire, once it is well underway. Plan for the fire to last at least an hour, and have another log or two within easy reach. The music is up to you. Start with your basic tea and sandwiches, full of flavor and not overly filling. Earl Grey is a favorite strong tea, but you might try a different taste, either India or China tea, say the fine flavor of Darjeeling, or perhaps the smoky taste of Lapsong Soochong. You’ve also got to have, along with the sandwiches, some scones and clotted cream and jams. My favorite is the Bonne Maman line of fruit jams, delicious and not overly sweet. You might also like marmalade, made with Seville oranges for a new and contrasting flavor. Now comes the treat, as you segue into the dessert portion of your Valentine’s Day Tea. The champagne you serve, well chilled of course, depends upon you. Any good champagne is a bit of a splurge, but the value for nonvintage French champagne from a.good house in Epernay far exceeds the value you now get for an overalcoholized young wine bidding for a high point score. Give some thought to the type of champagne that you want. Many people prefer Brut, a dryer variety that suits most American tastes. But increasingly people who like a sweet taste are going for Extra Dry, which despite the name, really is a sweeter champagne. Which champagne you pick depends not upon quality, but rather, upon the weight that you prefer. A very full champagne, such as Bollinger, is a great treat, and if you haven’t overdone it with the sandwiches, that might be your choice. A more medium weight champagne is Moet et Chandon, and I have always found their Cordon Rouge to be well made. You may prefer to stick to something a bit lighter, such as Taittinger brut “La Française,” always reliable in recent years. These champagnes are in the $32-$38 retail range in the United States, and worth it. And what if this is really a special occasion? Spend $100-$125 for a Dom Perignon, either 1995 (a glorious blend) or 1996 (extraordinarily high quality chardonnay). That creates an occasion you’ll long remember. You could also serve any of these champagnes for dinner, rounding out a memorable meal. Of course, you have put by some of the wonderful 2005 white Burgundy wines. Why not have salmon or rockfish as the main course, and a 2005 Chablis premier cru “Les Vaillons” from William Fevre ($29). Or serve the Chablis with smoked salmon or oysters before dinner. There you could serve roast lamb and a good vintage Bordeaux (Chateau Poujeaux 2000 $30). Do you want good value at lesser cost? I always like Mouton Cadet rouge, and this well made wine from the Mouton Rothschild estate will go well with steaks or lamb. It retails for around $9.00. For a white wine, the Monsieur Touton Sauvignon Blanc, also from the bordeaux region, is a fine buy, at about the same price. And for champagnes, Ste. Michelle from Washington State is very reliable (although custom states that only wines from the proper region of France may use the “champagne’ designation). They have both Brut and Extra Dry, but also offer a Blanc de Blancs (largely Chardonnay grapes) and a somewhat fuller Blanc de Noirs (Pinot Noir grapes). The Blanc de Blancsis a medium dry wine with light fresh flavors, while the Blanc de Noirs, although the same weight, is a rosé wine, salmon pick in color, with raspberry or strawberry notes, delicious. Any of these fine sparklers will set you back about $11.50. The champagne of your choice comes with the chocolate cake you have made or purchased for dessert. You will have created a grand occasion, and at less cost than a restaurant meal, where your favorite wines might not even be available. I bet you even get out of doing the dishes!