Valentine’s Day; a day for lovers. Well I sure do love this Raspberry and Chocolate Sparkling Rosé Cocktail and it’s an easy, elegant and beautiful libation you can make for the one you love.

Time is traveling at lightning speed for me lately; I feel as if I’m constantly rushing just to catch up. I just finally got the last of my Christmas decor packed and moved to my basement this past weekend and now, lo and behold, Valentine’s Day will be upon us in a heartbeat. This month’s Progressive Eats is all about Love Foods; including Aphrodisiacs or other romantic food or drink for Valentine’s Day and it’s hosted by Jane Bonacci who blogs at The Heritage Cook.

My choice was to create a cocktail for Valentine’s Day with the things I love and I just LOVE the combination of raspberry and chocolate…why not add a bit of sparkle to it too? Whether you love that day that you can make all about the ones you love or lament that it’s a manufactured day just to sell greeting cards, I know most everyone celebrates it. Going low key? Then put on your jammies and take a few minutes to make this delicious and simple Raspberry and Chocolate Sparkling Rosé Cocktail.

Champagne is from a region in France and the most well known sparkling wine (and truly that’s all that it is!). But that doesn’t mean it’s the only one. Sparkling wine from Italy is typically called Prosecco and from Spain it’s called Cava. American brands often just label their products as ‘sparkling wine’ and you can find some good ones too without breaking the bank.

The wine I used today is Santa Margherita Brut Rosé, a Vino Spumante from Italy. This pale pink wine brings a full bouquet of pleasing floral aromas with hints of red berry, artfully crafted with a blend of white wine made from Chardonnay and Glera grapes and a red varietal, Malbec. Its flavor is delicate, but vibrant and well rounded, remaining on the palate and making this a deliciously easy-drinking wine. I chose to add a hint of fruit and the requisite chocolate in the form of a painted rim and the result was a lightly sweetened cocktail perfect for apres…anything!

The trial and error was a pain and I suffered greatly having to eat a small handful of chocolate covered raspberries (poor me right?) but once I figured out what worked it was easy. I tried painting chocolate on raspberries like you would strawberries but sure learned why they are not typically covered in chocolate; they are simply too delicate for much handling. So I just skewered one and dipped it into some chocolate and gently placed it in the bottom of the glass. I painted on the glass rim with a small paintbrush I use for food prep and chilled the glasses and the result what exactly what I had been hoping for.

The chocolate adhered the berry to the bottom of the glass and kept it from floating. That was sort of important, as in it was EVERYTHING so I was psyched. There might have been some chocolate licked off too…I had too in the interest of science! Still in the real world setting of romance, I would make sure to have some additional berries and chocolate squares available to accompany this bubbly; they are perfect together.

Any type of bubbling spirit will bubble the most depending on how much surface area it interacts with. Although pouring a sparkling wine into a glass will result in a lot of bubbles, they are short lived as they simply hit the edge of the glass and are done. Try putting a cube of sugar in the bottom of a wine glass and you’ll see how far that extends the bubbling action. The raspberry did the same thing…lots and lots of continuous bubbles; much more fun.

I hope you’ll peruse the foods my friends have offered up for you too. Who needs to hassle with a dinner reservation and babysitters when you could spend the time together in the kitchen making a fabulous meal. Again, in your jammies…so perfect! Enjoy a LOVELY Valentine’s Day!

Love Foods for Valentine’s Day!

Cocktails

• Raspberry and Chocolate Sparkling Rosé Cocktail from Creative Culinary (You’re Here!)

Appetizers

• Chipotle Orange Grilled Shrimp Cocktail Gluten Free from The Heritage Cook
• White Bean Basil Hummus Style Dip w Pine Nuts and Meyer Lemon from OMG! Yummy

Main Courses

• Rib-Eye Steak With A Sunny-Side-Up Egg & Arugula Salad from Food Hunters Guide
• Pan Seared Salmon and Asparagus with Mojo Verde from Spice Roots

Desserts

• White Chocolate Frozen Mousse with Hazelnut Whipped Cream from The Red Headed Baker
• Oreo White Chocolate Fudge from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Valentine’s Day Simple Crepe Cake from Mother Would Know

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