There are a ton of factors you should think of when preparing for your long-awaited date: wearing the right clothes, the venue, the food, the wine, and most importantly, the budget. It would be a great misfortune if you splurge everything on one factor and having no money left for another thing. Say you bought a rather expensive suit, resulting in you not having enough money for the wine. You may be sleek looking, but you don’t have a wine in hand, which will leave a slightly wrong impression on your date.
A wine that fits the description for a dinner date is hard to find, as there are also many things to consider. It is a broad category for sure as it spans from sparkling wine, bold red wines, affordable great wines, etc. Not to mention the wine should fit the budget you have allocated for a drink. Also, as your clothes leave a positive impression on your date, the wine you bring also leaves significant attention to what kind of person you are as a whole.
With this in mind, being too careful or carefree is a risky maneuver, so you should choose wisely just as how you select everything for this date to be perfect. But then there are plenty of wines to choose from, from different countries to different flavors but we are here to assist you with that.
Here are a few suggestions that will surely make your date happy and at the same time, an affordable choice. These wines are your best bet in making that date feels extra special and will give your partner a smile on her face.
Passopiciaro Contrada Sciaranuova 2013, Sicily, Italy
This Sicilian red brings out the cool factor of the hip island of Italy with its well-known elegance and complexity. Produced by Etna winery, there are six of them, hailing from a single-vineyard cuvees, and Passopiciaro Contrada Sciaranuova 2013 is one of them. The grapes themselves give the wine bright red fruit flavors and has an exceptional characteristic of minerality from a lava flow that occurred since the 1600s. Its average price is $65.
Jose Maria da Fonseca ‘Periquita’ Reserva 2013, Península de Setúbal, Portugal
A lot of famous wine regions charge more for their bottles because of brand recognition, land prices, labels, etc. However, if you look beyond those wine regions, there are still reasonable offers of wine with high quality, which is an excellent deal when you are looking for a wine that is both affordable and magnificent. Just like Jose Maria da Fonseca ‘Periquita’ Reserva 2013, a wine quality wine with smoky depth to it and a vibrant flavor with an average price of $16.
NV Lini Labrusca Rosso Lambrusco
A wine that has a flavor of wild berries that has a scarlet color that makes you forget about his sweet vintage cousins: it is a different kind of wine that sets apart from the fresh production of Lambruscos in the past, made by a small family company called Lini, which makes excellent Lambruscos since the 1900s. Its average price is $16.
2009 Bastianich Friulano
Twelve years ago, Joe Bastianich started making outstanding wines that remind you of the fragrant white, which the Italian wine region is known. This bottle of wine has the characteristics of fruity freshness, a citrusy finish with a little bit of peppery spice on an excellent flavor. It has an average price of $16.
2009 Lang & Reed North Coast Cabernet Franc
This wine has the characteristics of a tea-leafy drink, with citrusy and fruity goodness, combined with California’s warm climate into Cabernet Franc. As a result, the wine has a red berry freshness that is perfect for any dish it pairs. It has an average price of $24.
Château Rollan de By ‘Cru Bourgeois’ Médoc 2011, Bordeaux, France
This bottle of wine would make you ask your sommelier if his suggestion exceeded your budget allocated for wine because of how expensive this wine tastes: a genuinely classic wine that is Merlot-based with a taste of tobacco and mint chocolate that is both sweet and refreshing.
Takeaway
Either you are sticking to your budget or wanting splurge in terms of choosing your wine; you should still pick out a wine that is both good in quality and brings out the best in you. With this, you will be sure to impress your date and will leave with a good impression on you. Preparing for a date sure is stressful as you must consider a lot of things, not to mention all the things you have to remember, like your manners and etiquette. Just remember that your choice of wine speaks great lengths about you and will give your date a good idea of what kind of person you are.
Author Bio
Scarlett Wells is a freelance writer and wine enthusiast. She is an active critique examining all levels of wine types so she can produce reviews and articles that will help guide every consumer in selecting the right kind of wine to drink. Aside from that, she wrote a lot of blogs maximizing the real usage of wines. In her free time, she reads a lot about food and beverage pairing in order to help her become an effective mentor inspiring everyone to maintain a fit and fab lifestyle.
