A Valentine's Day Treat

Around our home, nothing says Valentine's Day like a tasty Shiraz, a rack of lamb and the new Skyfall DVD with Daniel Craig filling the screen as James Bond. If bringing all that to the table doesn't convince the better half that love is in the air, I don't know what could.

I'm not exactly sure how we missed seeing Skyfall on the big screen last year, but we did. So, it was time that we made up for our earlier failure. Granted, the motorcycle chase over Istanbul rooftops wasn't as all encompassing as it would have been in the theatre, but BC theatres aren't urbane enough to allow us to sip our Shiraz through the movie. (OK, there is the Rio Theatre that's made some headway in that direction, but they didn't get the rights to Skyfall and I'm pretty sure that their wine choice wouldn't match up with tonight's choice at home.)

1260. 2007 Two Hands - Angels Share Shiraz (McLaren Vale - Australia)

I figure that the name "Two Hands" helps set the mood for Valentine's Day, but if that's not enough, like Bond, Two Hands has a house style that starts with "big is better" - and I'm definitely in love with their big, dark fruit and mellow tannins. The Angels Share Shiraz is part of the Picture Series collection that features varietal wines to show regional and varietal distinctiveness. A healthy proportion of Two Hands' output is Shiraz and this one hails from cooler McLaren Vale vineyards.

If Daniel Craig isn't enough to get you into a loving mood, the Angels Share certainly does a good job at making things move.

Our only trouble was that there wasn't enough Shiraz to last the full movie. Ergo, like Bond, we had to jump into action and find a little something more to resolve our dilemma. Our solution? Shaken, not stirred. We pulled out the Victoria Gin, a local boutique distillery, and made ourselves a couple classic Vesper martinis from Casino Royale: 2 parts gin, 1 part vodka, 1/2 part Lillet.

All Valentine's Days should be this tasty.