Valentine's Day Third Glass Guide

Uncorking a bottle is more than just a gesture-it is a ritual that celebrates togetherness, the joy of sharing a unique moment.

Wine, with its history and aromatic notes, becomes the accomplice of your romantic evening, a toast to your happiness.

As Apuleius said

The first glass is for thirst, the second for joy, the third for passion.

Apuleio

Of the fourth it is better to omit because it leads to madness.

Now, the Valentine’s Day goal is to reach the third glass, right? Perhaps traveling between bottles, that is, reaching the coveted “pleasure” and enjoying the enoic richness of a land, the Langhe, that is unparalleled in terms of quantity of grape varieties and quality of wines.

So follow our mini-guide to the third glass of Valentine’s Day and don’t forget the golden rule: never think of overdoing it but having fun!

Zero Glass
There is no such thing as the right wine

The first rule of a guide to the “right” wine should be that there is no such thing as the right wine. That’s right.

There is your creativity and intuition, your ability to read the situation and choose the bottle that represents you at that moment. If the “right wine” (or the“aphrodisiac wine“) existed, perhaps there would be no guidebooks (and here we have made one with some particularly “spicy” pairings).

So, the first rule of our mini-guide is: be yourself in choosing the wine, be inspired, tempted, fascinated by it.

Choose it according to how you feel, who you are facing. Investigate, if you can, tastes and propensities, desires and velleities; wine amplifies who you are, it cannot replace your personality.

Glass One
Upside down aperitif

If not on Valentine’s Day, when? When will you get the chance to surprise your heart’s diner with a special effect? Now, while staying true to yourself, a start with a bang is always better than one on the down low.

Then set the table for a reverse start and pull a Moscato d’Asti DOCG out of the fridge.

You heard right. On the table must be aged cheeses, cooked salami, roasted hazelnuts, butter, and green anchovies.

The incredible contrast between the sweetness of Moscato d’Asti and the saltiness of the aperitif, having overcome initial perplexity, will melt in you the desire to move on to a second glass. Insured!

P.S. If the choice of Moscato d’Asti Docg destabilizes your other half, play a cultural card. In the Middle Ages, musky wines-that is, aromatic and sweet, just like Moscato d’Asti-were considered the ultimate in love. Their enveloping flavor, reminiscent of freshly picked grapes, was considered the best of aphrodisiacs, capable of predisposing the senses to passion.

Glass Two
Nebbiolo is the best

Gentlemen, you cannot go wrong here. Piedmont is the child of the god Nebbiolo, and there are just too many good options to leave this grape variety on the back burner. On Valentine’s Day, however, we need to make a disruptive choice, one that steps outside the classic braised wine.

Let’s leave the firstborn Barolo and Barbaresco for a moment and embark on causagne (“headlands” in Piedmontese) that are still little traveled.

Nebbiolo, lately, has shown its capacity for expression even in the form of bubbles! Well, yes, to accompany a nice first course of stuffed pasta, a risotto or a second course of meat or fish (hence the versatility), a Nebbiolo vinified in white (or rosé) is just what you need.

Of inimitable freshness, persistence and harmony, under the guise of the Metodo Classico, Nebbiolo spumante reveals the full breadth of its aromatic profile, demonstrating elegance and persuasiveness with every sip.

A wine to caress the palate, which does not stew and prepares for the grand finale!

Glass Three
The Underdog

Remember when the word underdog briefly grabbed the headlines? Mutatis mutandis, the third glass of Valentine’s Day deserves a wine that still too few consider to be in the headlines. A true outsider that, on closer inspection, embodies the very soul of the holiday of lovers.

Brilliant red in color, velvety but naturally sparkling, with that inimitable aromatic nuance of rose and floral waterfall scents.

Is there perhaps a wine that more than Brachetto can embody the atmosphere of an end of a meal full of passion and sensuality?

The beauty of this nectar, half-known outside Piedmont, is its great capacity for pairing with desserts: chocolate, cream and dry pastries, tarts, tarte tatin.

Some people simply accompany it with a basket of fruit, letting the wine close the evening.

Brachetto is an aesthetic wine by nature, beautiful to look at, soft to taste, sugary, but not cloying. If you are looking for the glass of passion, you have found it.