WITH LOVE, WINE BECOMES FIRE

Ovid anticipated the ritual that would be developed in Roman bacchanals with his sentence: “Bringing love and wine together is adding fuel to fire indeed”. Luckily today people know how to appreciate wine properly, drinking little but well, truly savouring wine and using it to fall in love.

Thanks to pagan tradition the 14th of February is the day for lovers and there's a wine that exemplifies this better than any other; a noble Parellada from Bodegas Torres called San Valentín. Created by Miguel Torres Carbó as a present to his beloved wife Margarita Riera, like a love letter in liquid form.

How many marriages has wine saved thanks to a bottle shared together on a Saturday night?

A study carried out with 634 couples during their first nine years of marriage shows that the divorce rate was significantly higher when one of the couple drank more than the other while if the couple drank together then the likelihood of divorce fell.

Even in the Old Testament the vine was a symbol of fertility and also of human reproduction. "A bottle of wine contains more philosophy than all the books in the world" said the master of oenology, Louis Pasteur but the best verses come from the Persian mouth of Omar Khayyam with his beautiful hedonism of loving and drinking wine:

“Wine has the colour of roses; perhaps not the blood of vines but of roses; perhaps this cup is not of crystal but blue from the deep sea; perhaps there is no night but rather a blink of day.”

What is certain is that, we when share a bottle of wine between two people, we multiply our sensations and feelings can actually be expressed better and more honestly with a glass in front of us. Time stops when we share a bottle, allowing us to talk about things normally lost amongst the pressing chores of the day. We've therefore prepared some recommendations with a theme... So that instead of saying it with just flowers, why not also with wine?

TO ENJOY WITH STRAWBERRIES

Espumante Estelado Uva País Brut Chile: because its fragrances of wild strawberries are aphrodisiacal

ROSA ROSAE

De Casta, a rose-coloured wine full of the light and colour of Cariñena and Garnacha with hints of Tempranillo and Syrah

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANIES

La Masía Pinot Noir by Marimar Torres, a wine with the elegance and delicacy of Audrey Hepburn

WINES THAT WHISPER

Perpetual, born out of time and from the earth in the Priorat

THAT DARK OBJECT OF DESIRE

Mas La Plana, the legend dressed in black since 1970

WITH A GOOD HELPING OF TANNINS

Manso de Velasco, with all the strength of a New World Cabernet Sauvignon that lingers in the mouth thanks to its tannins with fruity and spicy chords

IN SPRING, THE SAP RISES

Viña Esmeralda (Cataluña), evoking a garden contained within a glass from the Upper Penedès

TO SAVOUR WITH OYSTERS

Pazo das Bruxas, an Albariño from Rías Baixas embodying all the essence of the Galician countryside

THE LAST DROP

Secret del Priorat: concealing a sweet secret full of Garnacha born from poor volcanic soil.

SINS OF THE FLESH

Celeste (Ribera del Duero), a Crianza with a lot of body, flavour and colour that pairs beautifully with the juiciest meats

SAY IT WITH FLOWERS

Waltraud (Penedès), a Riesling born from a love story between the artist Waltraud Maczassek and Miguel A. Torres.

And couples who not only drink together but also share a lot more in life than just a few glasses of wine make every day Saint Valentine's Day.

Meritxell Falgueras