Last Call for Valentine's Day

We've already offered quite a few Valentine's Day suggestions (and we'll link to them again at the end of this post), but we wanted to wrap it up with cocktail recommendations.

The Blushing Geisha

The Blushing Geisha is light on the alcohol but the bouquet is anything but light. In here we have a mix of the complex flavors of soju, luscious pomegranate juice, and rose nectar for a little herbal sweetness.

2 ounces Kuro Uma Shoshu Silver Soju
1 ounce pomegranate juice
2 ounces Sence rose nectar
Lime wedge for garnish

Pour the ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice.
Stir well, then strain into a stemmed glass or over ice in an old-fashioned glass. Garnish with a lime wedge.

Amarula & Eve

Fruity and creamy, the Amarula & Eve is a delicious cocktail that can serve as a dessert or an appealing, mood-setting drink for those romantic occasions. The nice part about the Amarula & Eve is that it is not overly creamy and the Amarula itself is nicely balanced against the fruit flavors, especially the lychee. If you cannot find lychee juice, you can substitute Soho Lychee liqueur for it; the drink will be just a touch sweeter.

1 1/2 oz Amarula Cream
1/2 oz Svedka Citron vodka
2 1/2 oz lychee juice
3/4 oz ruby red grapefruit juice
Lychee fruit for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a shaker glass filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a coup glass. Garnish with lychee fruit on the rim.

Agave Kiss

Tequila isn't mixed into creamy drinks too often, but when it is, it's a dream. This one happens to be ultra-creamy, complete with chocolate and raspberry liqueurs and double cream, shaken to a slurry mix.

The original recipe here calls for silver, or blanco, tequila but you can use an aged one instead. The reposados and anejos add a caramel sweetness that goes perfectly with the creams for the ultimate in sweetheart drinks.

2 ounces Herradura Tequila Silver
1 ounce white creme de cacao
1 ounce double cream (min 48% butterfat; can substitute heavy cream)
1/2 ounce Chambord
White chocolate flakes for rimming
Fresh raspberries for garnish

Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for 15 seconds. Pour into a chilled cocktail glass rimmed with white chocolate, add a spear of fresh raspberries, and serve.

Our other Valentine's Day suggestions:

Beer
Dessert Wine
Sparkling Wine

Valentine's Day Plans?

For some people, Valentine's Day is about the dinner, for others, it's about the chocolates and desserts, while still others prefer an all-of-the-above approach. We have guidance for those who might need some suggestions on wine or beer.

We think that Banfi's Rosa Regale looks like Valentine's Day, and it happens to be delicious as well. It's intense and aromatic on the nose, with hints of Bulgarian rose. On the palate, it's soft and elegant with berry flavors and a touch of almond and nutmeg. Rosa Regale is an ideal aperitif, but also pairs beautifully with fresh strawberries, fruit salads, pastries and chocolate.

If you haven't yet tasted Rosa Regale, this is a good weekend for you. We have a tasting in Woodbridge on Friday, February 6, from 5-7pm, and in Lawrenceville on Saturday, February 7, from 2-4pm.

You may prefer something more traditional, something that is made like Champagne. We think that it's hard to beat Gruet. This is available as a Brut or Blanc de Noir. It's produced in New Mexico by the family of Gilbert Gruet, a Frenchman who produced Champagne in Bethon, France. They began their great American experiment with an experimental vineyard in 1984, and their first bottlings available in 1989.

The Gruet Blanc de Noir rates 90 points from Wine Spectator. The rich and toasty character of the Blanc de Noirs is balanced and superb. Aged for two-year minimum, the palate

is developed and shows rich complex flavors. The amazing berry aromas and the creamy texture play a leading role and create a great finesse. Winemaker's Note: A fine salmon color, aggressive mousse and a lovely fruity wine with plenty of immediate charm and toasty aromas. There is also an explosive juicy flavor of raspberry.

The Gruet Brut offers a crisp, and full-bodied sparkling wine, which has developed rich complexity and fine mousse. The allure of toasty finish from twenty-four months on tirage, is a complement to the sophisticated apple and citrus flavor.Winemaker's Note: Brilliant with ultra fine bubbles. A wonderful fine bouquet dominated by green apple and grapefruit flavors. A truly classic house style!

We also recommend Aubry Brut Champagne. This NV Champagne rated 92 points from Wine Advocate. From the review: "This contains just one-quarter each Chardonnay and Pinot; 45% Meunier; and a mixture of Arbanne, Petit Meslier and Fromenteau (a.k.a. Pinot Gris). Nearly half of it is reserve wine, and more than half of that from a solera going back to 1998. If that sounds like a recipe for delivering complexity, you’re right and won’t be disappointed! Bittersweet perfume suggestive of gentian and iris mingles with intimations of fresh lime and sea breeze that in turn manifest themselves on a seductively silken palate in both juicy, vivacious exuberance and mouthwatering saliva-inducement. A scallop-like sweetly saline and mineral amalgam takes hold in a vibrant finish that leaves me caught between the urge to linger and the urge to take the next sip."

Our staff loved it as well: "A brilliant “value” among Champagne!  Citrus and mineral notes take the lead with green apple and pear flavors in the background.  A slight ginger note takes hold on the finish.  A dry, clean style that has a very attractive green apple juiciness that keeps you coming back for more.  This puts some of the big house Champagnes to shame!"

In the beer category, Weyerbacher Tango is a great place to start. It is a big, bold, Belgian-style dark ale brewed with 1,200 pounds of cherries!

Tango pours a beautiful ruby color with a nice fluffy head, offering a very complex aroma of cherries and other dark fruits. The strong 750 ml glass bottle finished with a cork and cage allows the very robust bottle-conditioning responsible for Tango’s effervescence. Dark fruit flavors join the cherries to match up with the strong malt bill with the Belgian yeast adding its 2 cents along the way.

Tango weighs in at 10.6% ABV and was brewed using a base of Pilsner Malt with Honey Malt, Special B, Aromatic Malt and a touch of Chocolate Malt. Apollo hops balance all that sweetness to 35 IBU.

Weyerbacher Tango pairs with any sort of chocolate, fruit flavored and filled chocolate, desserts, and would be a great night cap. It is boozy and sweet, just like your Valentine's Day should be!!

Yards Chocolate Love Stout is Love in a Bottle. Passionately brewed with over 200 pounds of pure, 100% cacao Belgian dark chocolate, this irresistibly smooth stout explodes with the taste and aroma of rich, dark chocolate goodness. This deep black beauty will seduce you with her roasty maltiness and hints of vanilla and caramel.

At 6.9% ABV, this pairs with long walks on the beach (maybe not this week) candlelit dinners, big comfy beds, cabins with fireplaces, scenic overlooks...you get the picture.

Need additional Valentine's Day ideas? Try these:
Click here for What to Drink for Valentine's Day, Part 1: Sparkling Wine 
Click here for What to Drink for Valentine's Day, Part 2: Dessert Wine
Click here for What to Drink for Valentine's Day, Part 3: Beer

What to Drink for Valentine's Day, Part 3: Beer

One sure sign of the maturity of the Craft Beer industry is the acceptance of these brews as great beverage choices on holidays. We started this project back at Thanksgiving, and we're continuing now with Valentine's Day. Because the snow will stop, eventually. In no particular order, we suggest you consider the following craft beers for Valentine's Day, with a special orientation toward dessert/chocolate pairings.

Weyerbacher Tango

Tango is a big, bold, Belgian-style dark ale brewed with 1,200 pounds of cherries!

Tango pours a beautiful ruby color with a nice fluffy head, offering a very complex aroma of cherries and other dark fruits. The strong 750 ml glass bottle finished with a cork and cage allows the very robust bottle-conditioning responsible for Tango’s effervescence. Dark fruit flavors join the cherries to match up with the strong malt bill with the Belgian yeast adding its 2 cents along the way.

Tango weighs in at 10.6% ABV and was brewed using a base of Pilsner Malt with Honey Malt, Special B, Aromatic Malt and a touch of Chocolate Malt. Apollo hops balance all that sweetness to 35 IBU.

Would pair with any sort of chocolate, fruit flavored and filled chocolate, desserts, and would be a great night cap. It is boozy and sweet, just like your Valentine's Day should be!!

Rogue Chocolate Stout

Ebony in color with a rich creamy head. An earthy flavor of oats and hops that gives way to a rich chocolate truffle finish. Pair with any dessert.

The recipe for Rogue Chocolate Stout was created several years ago for export to Japan. The exported twelve ounce Chocolate Bear Beer bottle label is in Kanji and features a teddy bear with a pink heart on his belly. Chocolate Stout was released for Valentine’s Day in 2001 in a twenty-two ounce bottle for the US market. The label features a Rogue original, Sebbie Buhler.

Weyerbacher Tiny

Tiny is a Belgian inspired Imperial Stout weighing in at 11.8% ABV. You’ll find big chocolate and roasted notes, balanced with the Belgian flavors from the Abbey yeast strain.

This beer is very smooth and lacks the astringency you sometimes find in these Imperial Stouts.

A good accompaniment for roasted and braised beef, caramelized, savory and also sweeter dishes. Tiny also complements chocolate, espresso and coffee flavored desserts.

Yards Love Stout

Brewery notes: "Our brewers have poured their hearts and dark, roasted malts into this rich, well-rounded stout. Luscious notes of coffee and chocolate accent the smooth, creamy mouth feel. We will not apologize for any amorous affairs resulting from the consumption of this beverage."

This is a Dry English Stout, coming in at 5.5% ABV. Significant ingredients are Roasted Barley and Chocolate malts.

Pairings: Love Stout and oysters are a match made in heaven, but this sweetheart also gets along well with rich, sweet treats, soft cheeses and winter stews.

Boulder Beer Shake Chocolate Porter

Our twist on the traditional robust American Porter, Shake Chocolate Porter is dark black in color with rich, sweet aromatics and flavors of dark chocolate, coffee and caramel. This unique brew blends five different grains, including Chocolate Wheat, that along with cacao nibs create a devilishly delicious chocolate finish with a velvety mouthfeel.

5.9% ABV. Currently available only in Lawrenceville.

Yards Chocolate Love Stout

It's Love in a Bottle. Passionately brewed with over 200 pounds of pure, 100% cacao Belgian dark chocolate, this irresistibly smooth stout explodes with the taste and aroma of rich, dark chocolate goodness. This deep black beauty will seduce you with her roasty maltiness and hints of vanilla and caramel.

6.9% ABV, this pairs with long walks on the beach (maybe not this week) candlelit dinners, big comfy beds, cabins with fireplaces, scenic overlooks...you get the picture.

Kasteel Rouge

Not exactly a domestic craft beer, but excellent for Valentine's Day. Kasteel Rouge is a unique blend of Kasteel Donker and a sweet cherry liqueur. This fruity beer makes a great aperitif on a sunny terrace. It’s certainly a beer for lovers of sweet cherries with an overpowering aroma of the fruit. The cherries get the better of the malt in the Kasteel Donker mother beer, although it contributes touches of chocolate and pepper to remind you it’s there. It is surprisingly easily digestible for quite a strong beer (8%ABV).

Currently available only in Woodbridge.


As you can see, the craft beer category offers some exceptional selections to enjoy on Valentine's Day, or any time that dessert is on the agenda. Please consult with our beer team if you need assistance finding these items, or if you're considering something else.

What to Drink for Valentine's Day, Part 2

It probably won't surprise you to learn that candy rates as #2 on the list of most popular gifts for Valentine's Day. Number 1 on the list is cards, which some people may not really consider a gift. Flowers (34%) finished well behind candy (47%, statistics from the Retail Advertising and Marketing Assoc), which was a mild upset. But since candy has always been associated with Valentine's Day, we thought we'd give you some wine pairing options for that box of chocolates.

The Golden Rule in successfully pairing chocolate (or any dessert) is simple: The wine should be sweeter than the dessert. From there, you can get more nuanced; an intense wine pairs best with a rich dessert. Wines with more acidity do well with fruity desserts. Skip the ice cream, however, as frozen desserts tend to dull the palate (although we can suggest a variation of the Root Beer Float, using Prichard's Sweet Lucy Bourbon Cream with root beer and vanilla ice cream, but we digress).

Port wine is a classic dessert wine. It's fortified (higher in alcohol), and, like Champagne comes from Champagne, France, true Port will come from the Douro Valley of Portugal. Port-style wines (sometimes using the term 'port') come from virtually every wine-producing region.

At Joe Canal's, we carry a wide range of Port wine, so you're sure to find something to please your palate and your wallet. You may want to consider the Dow's Vintage Port 2007. Dow’s Vintage Ports are only produced in years of exceptional quality and represent only a very small part of the total company’s production in that year.

Wine Spectator ranked this as #14 in their Top 100 of 2010, scoring it a perfect 100. From the review: "Amazing aromas of lilac, violet, crushed blueberry and mineral that turn to black pepper and spices follow through to a full-bodied, medium-sweet palate, with a long, chewy finish. Evolves to tar and asphalt. Really held back, yet powerful grip slaps you—and makes you happy. This is mind-blowing in texture. The greatest Dow ever made." Available in the Bottle Club® for $148.99. At the time of this writing, we have only two bottles in each store.

If you're looking for a Port that's an excellent introduction to the category, you would do well with Fonseca Bin 27.

Bin 27 shares the heritage and style of the great Fonseca Vintage Ports, as well as much of their depth and character.

However, it is bottled when ready to drink and can be served by the glass directly from the bottle. Blended for consistency of character and quintessentially Fonseca in style, this reserve blend provides reliable and affordable value, priced at $14.99 in the Bottle Club®.

Deep youthful ruby color. Intense rich fruity nose crammed with pure blackberry, cassis, cherry and plum aromas interwoven with notes of spice. 

The palate full bodied and round, with a smooth velvety texture balanced by firm mouth filling tannins. The juicy black fruit flavors linger into the rich luscious finish.

The rich black fruit flavors of Bin 27 are a perfect match for chocolate and berry fruit dishes. A chocolate fondant with strawberries makes a deliciously hedonistic combination with Bin 27, the rich creamy chocolate and luscious ripe strawberries blending seductively with the blackcurrant and cherry fruitiness of the wine. Bin 27 is also excellent served after a meal with bitter chocolate with a high cocoa content or a plate of chocolate brownies or truffles.

One of the interesting Italian wine traditions is the drying of grapes before they're crushed. The Amarone is a classic dinner wine made in this manner, and the Recioto della Valpolicella is the dessert wine counterpart.

The Roberto Mazzi Recioto della Valpolicella "Le Calcarole" is made from the traditional grapes (65% Corvina, 10% Corvinone, 20% Rondinella and 5% Molinara) in the traditional manner (drying via natural methods in boxes and racks in well-ventilated areas with periodic monitoring of the state of health of the grapes and crushing in early or mid-February according to the vintage). The wine is aged in oak for two years, followed by another year in the bottle.

At 15.5% ABV, it's higher than many table wines, but lower than some of the fortified dessert wines. It exhibits an intense ruby red color, with aromas of red berry fruit jam and spices. The taste is round, warm and inviting, with a very persistent finish, having a typical slightly bitter after taste due to the type of soil. Pair with spicy cheese and dessert. Also ideal with dark chocolate (max. 70% cocoa ).  Available for $29.96 in the Bottle Club®.

We have plenty of other dessert wine choices, including Sauternes, Tokaji, Sherry, and Madeira. Any member of our wine team can help you find the right bottle, so just ask!

Just In Time!

Let us also remind you that Valentine's Day is coming up this Friday, so you  may want to finish your shopping before we close at 7pm tonight. That way, you can relax about it until Friday. We'll go ahead and suggest some wines for Valentine's Day.

For the casual approach, we think GumDrop wines offer excellent value. These are all well-made, California sweet wines, making the perfect as an aperitif, or for after dinner. We stock the GumDrop Moscato, Pink Moscato, and Sweet Red. All are priced at just $7.96 in the Bottle Club®.

GumDrop Moscato is fragrant, luscious and light-bodied. Bursting with bright fruit flavors of peach and honeydew melon with a long, lingering finish. GumDrop Pink Moscato is also fragrant, luscious and light-bodied, with just a kiss of red wine. Brimming with exotic notes of orange blossom, honeyed peach and sweet cherry, this wine is love at first blush! Serve chilled. GumDrop Sweet Red is a floral, rich and velvety red wine blend. Enticing aromas and flavors of berries balanced with a full mouth feel and natural sweetness for a smooth, easy-drinking finish. Serve this chilled as well.

Exclusively at our Woodbridge store, may we suggest the Vinos Sin Ley Monastrell 2011. VSL Monastrell is a bright, pure expression of Monastrell. Made in the high-elevation region of Yecla from 45+ year-old vines. The vines are head pruned in the traditional manner and the vineyards are dry farmed (no irrigation). Organic farming allows VSL Monastrell to reveal a greater sense of purity. Minimal oak aging allows VSL Monastrell to better emphasize the true identity of the Monastrell grape. This wine has such a ripe, red berry, floral and spice character, with succulent and juicy flavors, it will pair with a wide range of cuisines and foods. VSL Monastrell's sweet fruit is well balanced and its acidity will help it pair well with Asian, Indian, Cajun and southwestern Tex-Mex spices.

Priced at only $12.99 in the Bottle Club®, the Vinos Sin Ley Monastrell rated 92 points from Wine Advocate. From the review: "Another stunning value from Yecla, the 2011 Vinos Sin Ley Monastrell (100% Mourvedre from organic vineyards) possesses a dense purple color as well as a big, sweet bouquet of blueberries, blackberries, and chalky, earthy soil, and a heady, rich, full-bodied finish. It combines elegance with richness despite the fact that this area is known more for the rusticity of its wines than their finesse."

We'll wrap up today's suggestions with another wine that's available in both our Lawrenceville and Woodbridge stores. The Pierre Henri-Morel Cotes du Rhone Village Signargues 2011 shows aromas of very ripe black fruit. It is gourmand with liquorice aromas and a spicy finish. You'll find potent flavors of black tea, plum and raisin. Very silky and interesting. It keeps changing in the glass.

This scored 91 points from Wine Spectator. From their review: "An elegant style, with silky texture and pure, unadorned bitter plum, blood orange and singed alder notes all racing along through the rooibos tea-tinged finish, revealing a buried mineral accent." All that for only $13.96 in the Bottle Club®.

Someone on Twitter called Valentine's Day "Singles Awareness Day". We don't know about that, but we do know that Joe Canal's can help you find the perfect bottle of wine, spirits or beer for Valentine's Day, and every day of the year. This week, our Lawrenceville store has added a wine tasting on Wednesday night, 5-7pm, to further assist you in the selection process. In Woodbridge, the regular Friday night tasting will include a chocolate sampling, because that's another great combination. 

For more information about our wine tasting, please visit the Events Page on our web site.