Bubbles for your Valentine! SuperValu cut the price of courting.

Bubbles for your Valentine

With the saving on this Pierre Darcys champagne, you'll be able to buy the flowers as well. Double those brownie points!

If music be the food of love, play on, a famous bard wrote. Add a few bubbles though….

And it’s easy to do it these days as SuperValu cut the price of courting with a  selection of sparkling wines all reduced (you’ll have a few bob left over for the flowers) for the day of love. So go pick your Cava, your Champagne, your Prosecco. There’s even an alcohol free one.

Barciño Cava Brut NV, 11.5%, €13.99 (was 25.99) until February 13th.

This vibrant wine is named after Barcelona “the city we love”, say the producers. It is bottle fermented, using the Methode Traditionnelle, same as is used for Champagne.

It is a very light gold colour - see those non-stop fountains of bubbles rise. Modest aromas are light and fresh. The palate, with those fine bubbles, is bright and zesty and then that classic fresh bread finish. This lovely Cava will help start the celebrations as an aperitif. Why not try a few tapas with this well crafted wine?

Graham Norton Prosecco Frizzante 11%, €10.00 (was 12.00) until February 13th.

Light gold is also the colour here and again there are lots of bubbles but this time they don’t hang around. This is a Frizzante (gently sparkling) not a Spumante (fully sparkling). You’ll also note a different closure on it - use your normal corkscrew to get started.

While it is nowhere near as bubbly as the Cava, this calmer bottle is very very pleasant indeed. Graham’s light and fresh Frizzante could well turn a midweek party up a notch or two. Anyone for pizza and prosecco?

Two wandering Kiwis and the Irish comic are behind the GN wines, "honest....without the BS" they say. All of the previous GN wines are from down under and this Prosecco's an exception, made with 100% Glera grapes from the home of Prosecco in NE Italy.

The McGuigan Frizzante is also on offer, down to €10.00 from 14.99, again until the 13th. I remember Neil McGuigan introducing it at a dinner in the Trident not too long ago - he just loved getting the most out of the pronunciation!  

“It comes in a resealable bottle,” he said. “It is produced from Semillon grapes, it is easy drinking, for everyday”. Nothing wrong with easy drinking on Valentine’s either! It is fresh, soft, scented and grapey, with delicious lightness and good length. Best served chilled.

Pierre Darcys Champagne Brut NV 20 euro (was 49.99) until Feb 13th

IWSC Silver Medal 2015 (pictured top);  Judges' verdict: “Pale lemon-yellow, steady streams of small bubbles ; fresh, delicate aromas showing green apple and hints of red fruit behind, fresh bread; well-balanced with bracing acidity, richness across the mid-palate and lingering crisp finish. Harmonious wine.”

Also on offer are the AG Blanc de Blancs and the AG Brut Rosé (each at €10.00, down from €17.99) and the non-alcoholic Freixenet Legero Sparkling at €7.00.

A Special Night for a Special Cause

Announcing details of this years Threshold Valentine's Night Dinner were (l to r) Edel Conlon Threshold, Chef Brendan Cashman and Rebecca Harte Farmgate Cafe

A Special Night for a Special Cause

Threshold's Valentine's night dinner is a special night, on a special day, in a special place, brought to you by a wonderfully passionate culinary team... Oh and if that's not enough, it's in aid of a very important Charity.

The event is held each year in the Farmgate Cafe located in the historical English Market in Cork City. The evening captures all the atmosphere the English Market has to offer (remember that atmosphere includes the need for warm clothes!) and when coupled with the wonderful team at the Farmgate Cafe the evening becomes truly memorable. For those who attend they get to experience the Market at night time, something that does not happens very often and is a rare treat.

This year will be even more exciting, the Farmgate Cafe have invited multi award winning chef and restaurateur Brendan Cashman to create the menu in collaboration with the team in the Farmgate kitchen. Brendan is best known for the wonderful food he created in Augustine’s Restaurant and will be creating a menu especially for the night. We feel that an already unique evening will be made even more special with this exciting collaboration.

The dinner is in aid of local charity Threshold, the national housing charity which works to prevent homelessness and campaigns for housing as a right. (www.threshold.ie)

The evening is supported by Cork City Council and of course the very generous support and hard work from the Farmgate Cafe team. We are very grateful to Irish Distillers who have supported the event for a number of years, as have a number of food producers in the English Market itself and others selected from Cork's rich array of food producers.

Couples, groups and singles celebrate the night together without the "soft focus haze" that is typically associated with Valentine's night in a unique and special place.

Call Threshold for tickets and more information: (021) 427 88 48

Venue: The English Market (entrance via Market Parade on Patrick's Street)

Time: 7pm

Date: Valentine's Night Thursday 14th February

Tickets: €60 (Tickets are limited so make sure you get your tickets early!)

Valentine's: from tea to wine to aphrodisiacs

CELEBRATING VALENTINE’S WITH TEA. AND WITH WINE.


Seems to be confusion galore about St Valentine, the Patron Saint of Lovers. How many saints of that name were there? Anything from one to fourteen, depending on where you read.

Hard to say then if the real Valentine enjoyed a cup tea or a glass of wine, two suggested ways of celebrating next Tuesday, the first recommended by Nash 19, the second by the folks at the Wine Store.

Nash 19 may not have saintly approval but Mairead O’Brien quotes Henry James: “There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony know as Afternoon Tea.” Nash 19 will be serving Afternoon Tea in Honour of St Valentine during February and March. The daily slot is 2.45 to 4.00pm, booking is essential (021 4270880) and cost for two is €38.00.

Mrs Tyrrell of the Wine Store tells me they love their Northern Rhone wines and would love to share some with you this month. “The list of the wines in this offer include many that are not normally listed on the site, some are only available in very limited quantities.” Looks like a special to me and well worth checking out here.

Must say, I enjoyed my Plan de Dieu during last summer’s trip to the area and spotted one on the list - Côtes du Rhône Villages, Plan de Dieu 'Le Temps est Venu' 2010. It is down from 15.95 to 13.95. And there are decent deductions on the prices of Condrieu and Côte Rôtie. Certainly worth a look. But hurry if you want a Rhone special in for the big day!

If you want to really impress why not check out the Fotal Island Hotel. They have some tempting packages here.

And, if you’re truly daring, or just chancing your arm, the Town Bar and Grill in Kildare Street (Dublin)  have a Special aphrodisiac menu on for Valentine’s Day!