Published at 15:54, Wednesday, 09 February 2011

WHAT’S the wine of choice for the most romantic day of the year?

perfect Valentine's tipple: A bottle of Maxim's Champagne

Popping the question on Valentine’s Day is one thing but on February 14 romance does come in a package – flowers, chocolates and not least the wine.

The latter tends to cause a little bit of agonising but really it’s a simple choice – it has to be champagne.

Over the centuries, whether in times of prosperity or recession, Champers has maintained its reputation as the king of sparkling wine and the one to celebrate romance.

It was once the preserve of high society party goers, but those days are long gone – a bit like Maxim’s perhaps.

This most famous of Parisian grand cafes is now-adays frequented by kings and well-heeled commoners alike. Even its well acclaim-ed house champagne can be acquired over the counter.

Richardsons, of Whitehaven, is the only local stockist. The price is more than reasonable, at just under £30 a bottle for an exquisite bottle of bubbly.

And there’s lots of top brands of £30 plus cham-pagnes on the supermarket shelves at the moment, alongside some of the usual price-busting sparklers.

The Co-op has good offers on and I’ve long raved about Tesco’s own premier cru champagne. Only a few years ago it outscored all the famous names to take gold in the International Wine Challenge. To tempt the palate, and the pocket, for next Monday’s celebrations the same store has a differ-ent brand on half price offer – very good I’m told, too.

But coming up with a strong contender on the other side of town is Morrison’s “own” cuvve which in December got the Which magazine’s prized verdict as the best value champagne for Christmas.

It was judged higher than the aristocrats, Veuve Clicquot and Moet & Chandon included.

It may be Morrison’s own Brut (the dry variety) but it’s bottled by a long established family firm in the Champagne region. At £19.99 this is tremendous value for money, especially if you’re not too bothered about a label bearing a big domaine name.

In budget-conscious times, wine is often one of the first things to take a hit. There’s plenty of good cheap sparklers such as Spain’s Cava on offer – but only one can call itself Champagne. And on Valentine’s Day you can’t really put a price on romance, can you..?

Published by http://www.whitehavennews.co.uk