Is anyone else getting the feeling like 2023 is going by very quickly already? As excited as I am for a new year, I’d love a bit of a slow down… however that’s not possible, so lets jump right to Valentines Day which is in 13 days!
With the rise of in home date nights, it’s a great time to splurge and treat you and your sweetie to some pretty incredible wines. I am a fan of abundance and always love to give a gift with my wine bottles, something that will be a nice compliment so I have also included some really nice gifts here too that could easily pair with a nice bottle of wine. Life can be short so celebrate when you can, and make sure you drink something good. This year if 
you’re staying in, hosting a party, or going to a gathering, be sure to pick the best from the list below!
Wines to give:
Martini & Rossi Prosecco: A go-to easy to drink Prosecco that you can sip or mix into cocktails! This Prosecco is enjoyed by all for its dry and fruit forward style. It’s versatile and food friendly and perfect for the Prosecco lover in your life. This is always my choice when I am going to hang out with the girls and we’re making a mixture of mimosas, French 75’s, and more. $14
Martini & Rossi Rosé- I always love to feature this bubbly around Valentines Day because it’s unique compared to other Italian sparkling wines. It has a “secret” blend of grapes including Nebbiolo and Riesling Italico and is a softer rosé that can be enjoyed with a wide range of foods. It’s super affordable and ideal for sipping before, during, and after a meal. $14
Borsao Rosado Selección 2021: This wine is the perfect wine to show someone who loves rosé you truly care. This wine is a Garnacha rosé that has bold aromas of berries and fruit jam. It’s delicious and enticing with beautiful floral notes on the palate. I love a wine with great acidity and balance, as well as an unbeatable price, and this rosé absolutely has all of that. Pair this pink wine with a baked brie, a salmon dinner, and chocolate covered strawberries! $10
Louis Jadot Pouilly-Fuissé 2021– Produced in the Mâconnais region of Burgundy, this famous wine is one I love featuring around the holidays. Sure… Jadot makes some really easy to drink wines, and I could totally drink this year round, I just find it’s more fun to drink a Pouilly-Fuissé for Valentines Day. This wine is partially barrel fermented with 6 months of aging in French oak casks. Balanced, nice acidity, and lots of notes of This wine has red apples, honey, and white flowers leap out of the glass. The palate is gorgeous with flavors of toasted nuts and citrus. $31.99
Etude Heirloom 2018 Pinot Noir: This wine is always a favorite of mine, especially after getting to meet their winemaker, Jon Priest last year in NYC! This wine is special and totally shows why Etude is a known leader in Pinot Noir production. This pinot is a blend of heirloom selections of the grape variety and is a total palate pleaser that will heat things up the Valentines Day! It’s vibrant, concentrated, and boasting with aromas of black cherry and fresh strawberry. Lots of earthy notes too, but balanced with fruit. It’s silky and smooth, and feels quite luxurious making it a great pairing for risotto and steak. $95
Beringer Vineyards 2019 Knights Valley Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon: What a gorgeous cabernet this is! 2019 was an exceptional vintage, and this wine has nice structure, an intense color, and lots of fruit. It’s balanced and bold… like really bold! I would decant this, however you don’t have to, but why not when it’s Valentines Day and makes it a bit extra special, plus it will open it a bit faster. I enjoyed the black cherry, and black currant notes in the wine and it also has a lovely texture. This is a steak wine, maybe with a nice filet and a side of lobster tails! $70
Col d’ Orcia 2015 Poggio Al Vento Brunello Di Montalcino: Dark and alluring! Ideal for Valentines Day and perfectly youthful still, this Brunello is fine with sweet tobacco, wild berries, and black cherry. It’s an intense wine with earthiness and nice balance, and boasts old world tradition, which is very much the Col d’ Orcia style. They are one of the original estates of Montalcino, and are now one of the largest Certified Organic estates in Tuscany! The estate is currently owned and managed by Count Francesco Marone Cinzano, who I have had the pleasure of meeting virtually and in person! This wine is high end, elegant, age worthy but also drink-able now. I highly recommend this as a gift to give someone who really loves wine and old world Italian tradition. $170
Bodegas Montecillo Reserva 2014– I love a good full bodied Spanish red! This Reserva is indulgent and expresses notes of oak, rich cherry, dark fruit, and some vanilla. This wine is aged for 24 months in French and American Oak and then aged an additional 2 years at the winery. Winemaker Mercedes Garcia Runérez says the extended age delivers notes of wood, coffee, and balsamic. $19.99
Spirits:
Mayfield Gin- A fantastic and fun Sussex Gin with a tale that will excite and entice! “Saint Dunstan, as the story goes, was working in his smithy, when an old man appeared at his window and asked him to craft a chalice for him. St. Dunstan agreed and started working, but as he worked, the visitor began to change shape from an old man to a young boy and then a seductive woman but failing to hide his hoof, sticking out from under the dress. Pretending not to notice, he took his tongs and laid them in his holy fires, waiting until they were red-hot. Quickly pulling them from the fire and seizing the Devil by the nose. The Devil transformed and roared, before flying to nearby Tunbridge Wells to cool his nose in the river.” – Mayfieldgin.com.
This gin starts at a farm in East Sussex and is distilled with 7 natural botanicals. It’s smooth, and one of my favorite gin’s to sip on it’s own but also build into a Bees Knee’s cocktail! $36
Daddy Rack Whiskey- One of the best young whiskey’s in the market! This Tennessee whiskey has such a fun label and also a great taste. J. Arthur Rackham worked his way through the Cognac and spirits industry as a Master Blender and Maker of premium spirits, before making Daddy Rack, a TN whiskey. The idea for young whiskey is newer, and Daddy Rack is double filtered thorough maple charcoal. It’s absolutely delicious and so affordable, and easily pairs perfectly with some Tennessee BBQ, or some chocolates! $40+
L’Héritier-Guyot Crème de Cassis de Dijon– Macerated black currants and alcohol produce this bold and colorful Cassis from Dijon, France! It has a beautiful and natural purple color with black currant on the nose and palate (as we would expect). It’s sweet, but balanced because the sweetness comes from the fruit and not added sugars which I love about this. It mixes really well into a cocktail and is ideal to have around for any home bar. $34.99
Larressingle VSOP Armagnac- In Larressingle, two centuries of tradition yield the single best-selling Armagnac in the United States! Larressingle VSOP Armagnac is produced from different blends of Armagnacs from 5 to 7 years of age, as opposed to the legal minimum of four. This is pretty amazing, and also makes it more unique… which it already is as a spirit to begin with. This armagnac is exclusively from wines from the Bas Armagnac and Ténarèze districts in France, and is double-distilled to produce a light, smooth texture. This is expected from the finest armagnac’s in the world, and I’d say this is absolutely one of them! $62.99
Mix-able Gifts:
Heimat New York, Handcrafted Liqueurs: These NY crafted fruit liqueurs are the perfect addition to your cocktails and “damp lifestyle”. The Nectarine is awesome, so vibrant and fresh and true to the nectarine flavor. I love mixing it into my Cosmo style cocktails as well as making a Nectarine Old Fashioned with a young whiskey like Daddy Rack (above). The Black Berry is ideal for a Bramble, margarita, and sidecar… it’s just delicious; and you should absolutely try it! $14+/bottle
Uncle Waithley’s Ginger Beer: This carbonated ginger beer is ideal for mixing into cocktails! This “vincy brew” has a scotch bonnet pepper bite, and is so unique to the ginger beer industry. It includes ginger, turmeric, lime, and Caribbean inspired mineral water to make this delicious tasting beverage. This ginger beer is a family recipe developed by mixologist Karl Franz Williams and inspired by his Grandfather, Uncle Waithley who lived his entire life on the enchanting island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines! $10/4 pack
Edible Gifts To Give & Pair:
WhatIF Foods, Bamnut Noodles: Some super cool and easy to make ramen options for the foodie who likes to explore and be a little healthy. WhatIF Foods offers some really cool sustainable and healthy options for people who want to take their food to another level. Using the regenerating BamNut, this company has completely changed the way we think of food and noodles. It has 7 minerals, fiber, natural iron, b vitamins, and up to 20% protein! BamNut Noodles with Sweet Hot seasoning are ideal with wines like riesling, where the Moringa Noodles with Sesame Garlic seasoning are so fun with a Sake Martini. The Charcoal Noodles with Mushroom Pepper seasoning I love with a good old world French red wine something from the Rhone Valley, and the Pumpkin Noodles with Cheeky Curry seasoning I love with a nice IPA or a Belgian Wheat Beer. $64+/bundle
Keep an eye out all month long for Instagram Features enjoying these delicious products, wines, mixes, and more. Always remember, eat what you like and drink what you love. Please pair responsibly!
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