Which wine to serve as an aperitif?

The results of our latest poll showed an overwhelming preference for champagne or other sparkling wine over any other aperitif - the ultra-sophisticated dry martini or refreshing gin and tonic barely registering. But it’s worth thinking of a few other possibilities to kick your evening off.

An aperitif’s role is to stimulate the appetite for the meal ahead - the word derives from the Latin verb aperire ‘to open’. It’s job is to tickle or refresh rather than bludgeon the palate which is why dry white wines or sparkling wines are the most popular option.

It should also fulfil the task of making your guests feel relaxed and pampered - gratified that you’ve taken the trouble to find something they’ll enjoy. But exactly what that amounts to takes is going to vary for different guests . . .

Friends and family
Friends and family love you. They don’t need to be impressed. But they’re flattered (as anyone would be) if you remember the pinot grigio they enjoyed at that Italian restaurant you went to a couple of months ago or bring out the last bottle of that lovely wine you all enjoyed on holiday together. Keep it simple - a nice unoaked chardonnay, a good sauvignon blanc or (if they’re ardent Francophiles) a kir, a dash of cassis (blackcurrant liqueur) topped up with inexpensive white burgundy.

Need to impress
Unlike when you’re dealing with the much travelled foodie or wine buff below, play it safe and stick to something they’ve heard of: a familiar champagne (Laurent Perrier or Veuve Clicquot, for example), a Chablis, Sancerre or Pouilly Fumé or an iconic New World white like Cloudy Bay. (Never mind that there are arguably better New Zealand Sauvignons, you’ll get brownie points for having managed to get hold of some at all) A lush white Bordeaux (Graves or Pessac Lognan) also goes down well.

Wine-loving sophisticates
With the man - or woman - about town there’s a sort of reverse snobbery at work. Don’t go for the obvious so make it Italian prosecco rather than champagne, possibly made into a fresh fruit bellini. Other good options: tangy, well chilled manzanilla (a number of you were on the spot with your votes there!) served with authentic Spanish Marcona almonds; a refreshing German or Australian Clare Valley riesling or current restaurant favourites Grner Veltliner or Albarino (from Austria and Spain respectively) Anything, in short, that shows you have similar good taste to theirs

What not to serve

* Nothing too old
Not everyone likes the complex, sometimes funky flavours of mature white wines so, even if you have one ardent riesling-lover in the party, stick to whites that are young, crisp and fresh

* Nothing too oaky
Full bodied, barrel-aged whites need food just as much as full bodied reds do so are not the best way to kick off an evening.

* Nothing too commercial
Even friends won’t be flattered by the 3 for the price of 2 bargain you’ve picked up in the local supermarket. (They’ve probably bought it too and are sick of it already)

So what if your Valentine doesn't drink wine?

From the bottles that are lined up on the supermarket shelves you’d think the whole world was going to be drinking champagne tomorrow. But you know and I know that it just doesn’t hit the spot for many people who would frankly much prefer a beer or a soft drink. So what are the romantic alternatives?

For a beerlover . . .
If it’s sparkle you’re after there are a couple of candidates - Deus, the Dom Perignon of the beer world (right down to the shape of the bottle which is extraordinarily similar to DP . . . ) and the more modestly priced Kasteel Cru which is made using champagne yeast.

Fruit beers also come into their own on Valentine’s Day and will please beer drinkers and non-beer drinkers alike. Belgium has the best - look out for Liefmans Frambozen (raspberry) and Kriek (cherry), both good with cheesecake and lighter chocolate desserts, especially if served with berry fruits.

You can also, as I mentioned yesterday - Wine (and other drinks) to match Valentine's Favourites - buy passionfruit beer which also tastes great with creamy desserts. Floris from Belgium is the best example I’ve tasted (though far too sweet and sticky for hard core hopheads!)

Apple of my eye . . .
Crisp refreshing apple-based drinks also provide a good alternative to champagne. Sparkling cider or perry (pear-based cider) can be opened with a ceremonious pop or, if your beloved doesn’t drink. simply buy her/him a bottle of sparkling apple juice or prettily floral sparkling elderflower ‘champagne’

Think pink . . .
No need to feel out of it because you don’t drink ros. Just look how many pink drinks there are on the shelf and in the chill counter nowadays. Cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, strawberry, raspberry, cherry, pink grapefruit, pink lemonade. . . My favourites are pomegranate juice which you can substitute for a dry ros or light red and cherry juice (try and find one of the French artisanal juices which are really delicious)

If you want a substitute for a sweet wine to drink with a chocolate dessert make up a berry-flavoured cordial at 3 or 4 times the usual strength (i.e. with a lot less water than usual) and serve it really cold

Be my honey . . .
The perfect Valentine’s drink, if truth be told, is mead, an ancient sweet ‘wine’ or, more accurately but less romantically, an alcoholic fermented drink brewed from honey. Although it can be dry it’s most often sweet and can be flavoured with herbs and flowers. For Valentine’s Day I recommend the sweet kind served with strawberries and cream. Lurgashall in Sussex is one of the best known English producers and Redstone Meadery in Boulder, whose meads I sampled in Denver in September at the Great American Beer Festival, a good American producer.

Planning a Burns Night dinner

Some years ago we had some good friends who were really into Burns Night. They were both actors and Steve (north London Jewish) did a brilliant ‘address to the haggis’ in a ripsnorting Scots accent which had tears rolling down our faces.

I was reminded of these bravura performances the other day when I went to a preview Burns dinner at the Boisdale restaurant in Bishopsgate in the City of London where we treated to the same eulogy delivered by a genuine Scot who also gave a full ear-splitting recital on his bagpipes.

Burns Night, of course, celebrates the birthday of Scotland’s famous poet Robert Burns on January 25th. It is outrageously kitsch, no doubt about that, but it’s a fun way to spend an evening with good friends. Boisdale had sensibly leavened the feast (which can be heavy) with more mainstream offerings such as very good organic smoked salmon from Islay, slow braised belly of pork and brioche bread and butter pudding with an orange and apricot sorbet. (You could also try Sue Lawrence’s delicious venison recipe from this month’s Book of the Month)

Different whiskies were served as an aperitif, with the haggis and with the last course (Macallan is sponsoring the event) with some fairly pedestrian Bordeaux - white and red - in between. The change of drink was welcome though claret wasn't the ideal match. Haggis is quite gamey and needs a powerful red with some good ripe fruit to counteract that. I’ve tried Rhone reds like Saint Joseph quite successfully but Australian shiraz strikes me as quite perfect. There is actually one called Bobbie Burns Shiraz which comes from the Rutherglen region of Victoria and which you should be able to track down through www.wine-searcher.com

A better solution is to have your wee dram beforehand and possibly with the smoked salmon and one at the end but to drink beer in between. There are plenty of good Scottish ales - you need one with a touch of sweetness. During a further run-through back home (memo to self: never eat haggis more than once in a week) I was very taken with the new limited edition Innis and Gunn IPA but the regular Innis and Gunn, which is aged in whisky barrels was a good match too. I also liked Schneider Aventinus from Germany and suspect a Maredsous 8 or 10 (from Belgium) would be a good pairing. You don’t want anything too bitter or too hoppy. It just doesn’t work with haggis and its traditional accompaniments neeps (swede) and tatties (mashed potato)

If you’re in London, Boisdale - which also has a branch near Victoria - is a good place to spend Burns night: if you’re tied up on the evening itself the menu is on all this week and next. The food isn’t extraordinary but the restaurants are charmingly eccentric, have bags of atmosphere and a great selection of whisky and cigars . . . (Get in quick before the smoking ban!)

If you want to organise your own Burns Night there’s a comprehensive guide on the BBC website complete with video clips!

Which wine glasses to buy

With the sales still in full swing it’s a good time to be snapping up cut price wine glasses but which kind should you buy and how many do you need?

If you’ve got room to store them the ideal is to have four different types: a medium-sized wine glass for white wines, a bigger one for full-bodied reds, a small one for dessert wines and fortified wines such as sherry and port and a tall champagne ‘flute’ for serving sparkling wines. (A tall glass keeps the bubbles fizzing away longer than the old-fashioned saucer shape)

From a wine drinking (rather than an appearance) point of view they should be made of clear rather than coloured glass so that you can fully appreciate the colour of the wine you’re drinking and slightly tapered towards the top to trap the aromas in the glass. The rim should be thin and fine and the stem long enough for you to be able to hold it without having to clutch the bowl, which will transfer heat from your hand to the wine. (There’s a more detailed guide, for those of you who are interested, on a website called www.wineglasses.co.uk which supplies to the trade.)

Good makes include the Austrian glass firm Riedel (which actually has a glass for different grape varieties including one monster of a burgundy glass that holds an entire bottle!), Schott Zwiesel and Dartington but there are some excellent value Polish and Czech glasses around currently at less than half the price. If you find that glasses get broken regularly in your household John Lewis has a basic range at just £15 for 6 glasses.

You can order Riedel glasses on Amazon now, amazingly. (Is there anything they don’t sell these days?) The American site has some particularly good deals.