RAISE A GLASS

IT is Valentine’s Day very soon and there’s no better way to celebrate than to raise a glass of something, say cheers, and declare your love.

Because romance is in the air, this week I’ll begin with a couple of aptly-named wines from the St Amour cru in Beaujolais.

I love Beaujolais wine and the two I tasted from the northerly part of this French region were both delightful and yet different. Saint Amour Domaine Matray (£16.60, alpinewines. co.uk) not only ticks the Valentine’s Day box with its name, but also has a heartshaped design on its label. It’s a lovely ruby red wine made from the traditional Beaujolais grape, gamay. It oozes blackcurrant jam, damsons and summer fruits. There’s an interesting contrast between the fresh fruit on the nose and the flavours in the mouth. Dried fruits, as opposed to fresh fruits, are more to the fore in every sip. It’s an interesting, slightly complex, but very approachable red wine.

Another “love interest” wine from the same cru is Château de Belleverne St Amour

(£9.49, rannochscott.co.uk) which is much more fruity. It is very easy-drinking and yum-scious but has less to say about itself than the Matray. I’m told the Saint Amour region sells 20-25% of its wines on February 14, which isn’t surprising. A pink sparklie is a perfect choice for Valentine’s Day. Consider this beauty from South Africa, Pongrácz Rosé (£35.48 for three bottles from Amazon, which works out just over £11 each). The bottle shape is elegant, and the wine itself is a salmon pink colour. It has a nose of citrus, red berries and blackcurrant, and those same fruits zizzazz in the mouth as the bubbles and acidity make themselves known.

The Society’s Saumur Rosé

Brut (£11.50, thewinesociety. com) hails from the Loire Valley and cabernet franc is the grape. It has an excitable, giddy fizz, with

the bubbles not wasting any time in telling the world that they’re here.

If you pour this for your Valentine, they’ll be happy with its subtle strawberries and cream notes. It’s a dry wine, perfect with food.

Perhaps your Valentine is an English rose, and deserving of an English sparkling wine. If so, Asda’s Extra Special English

Sparkling Brut (£21) might be a good way to go. Asda has collaborated with Denbies to create this wine made in the same way as champagne. It is a blend of hand-picked grapes pinot noir, chardonnay and pinot meunier, grown on the Denbies estate in Surrey. It is fresh and vibrant, with lush, ripe green fruits, baked

apples and a subtlety of toast.

If you seriously want to impress your loved one, Champagne Canard-Duchêne Cuvée Léonie

(£27.12, champagnesandchateaux. co.uk) might be just the thing. It’s a truly delicious non vintage champagne, crafted from 50% pinot noir and then equal parts of pinot meunier and chardonnay. I sipped it when there was a decided chill in the air outside, but it brought a warmth to my heart. It has a buttery nose, lightened with a subtlety of flowers, burnished with brioche, spicily spiked with gingerbread, and with a peep of pineapple.

Jane is a member of the Circle of Wine Writers. Find her on social media and online as One Foot in the Grapes.