If you intend to satisfy your Valentine’s Day commitment with a simple greeting card, get in line with 2.6 billion others who intend to do the same. Or, you can get in line with fewer people who will buy 176,000 gallons of wine through the holiday week. That’s a lot of wine. Valentine’s Day is a call to arms, mostly for men, who despite the gender revolution are still expected to spoil their loved ones with flowers, chocolates, dinner, wine – or, swallow hard here, all of the above. It makes you wonder if this Saint Valentine isn’t the father of commercialism. After all, the Roman Catholic of saints lists about a dozen “Valentines,” so who made this Feb. 14 guy pope? There’s no real attachment between Saint Valentine and this business of buying sweets and dinner for someone who spends the day anticipating some commercial expression of love. The only point is you need to spend money or be barking in the doghouse for days. With that cynicism behind us, let’s buy a bottle of wine and make a great dinner at home.

Even if it’s steak or lobster, you’re out only $50-$60 and still leave a good impression. Since red has been arbitrarily assigned the official color of the holiday, there should be red in your glass. From there, the choices are endless. We love rosé champagne because bubbles make the occasion seem special and luxurious. We don’t know a woman who doesn’t feel special sipping champagne. We also like still rosé for much the same reason. Like champagne, people seem to relegate rosé to the summer, even though it’s a versatile, year-round wine. If lobster is on your plate, rosé is a terrific match. It also goes well with simple pasta dishes, fish, vegetarian fare, chicken and hearty tomato soups or salads. If steak is your entrée, think red wines, such as cabernet sauvignon or merlot. Castello di Gabbiano Riserva Chianti Classico 2013 ($25): How could be not include chianti in a Valentine’s Day column? Picture candles, pasta dinner and a little Sinatra for background music.

We love this wine year to year – inexpensive, juicy, black cherry and strawberry flavors, with a dash of tobacco and spice. We promise there won’t be any leftovers. Gabbiano also makes an incredibly delicious extra-virgin olive oil. Nice gift if you can find it. Tenuta di Arceno Strada al Sasso Chianti Riserva 2010 ($35): You get a lot for your money from this superbly delicious and balanced chianti. Made entirely from sangiovese grapes, it is fruit-forward, richly textured and paced with ripe plum and black cherry flavors with a perfect dose of Valentine’s Day chocolate.best red wine on long island Loveblock Central Otago Pinot Noir 2015 ($37): You can’t go wrong with the name, or the wine. best soft red wineFrom New Zealand, this pinot noir is full of lovely fruit, and it’s a versatile match to anything on the table.best dry white wine under 20

Moet &Chandon Rosé Imperial Emoji ($50): This special edition comes clad in a pink sleeve and with a sheet of Valentine-inspired emoji stickers to personalize the bottle for your sweetheart. Champagne Bollinger Special Cuvee ($50): Bollinger is one of the most respectable names in Champagne. This non-vintage blend has floral aromas, fresh acidity and apple/citrus flavors. It will make a statement. Cleto Chiarli Brut de Noir Rose ($15): This sparkling wine from the Spumante region of Italy is lively with red currant flavors. Inman Family Wines “Endless Crush” Rosé ($35): We fell in love with tantalizing rosé while visiting Kathleen Inman in her Sonoma County tasting room several years ago. It remains one of our favorites. Using pinot noir grapes from her prized Olivet Grange Vineyard, the wine has incredible aromas of passionfruit and watermelon, followed by exquisite strawberry and citrus flavors. Donelan Family Wines Rosé 2015 ($25): Everyone in the family is involved in this Santa Barbara winery that focuses on Rhone varietals.

Made from syrah, grenache, mourvedre and pinot noir, this rosé has exotic flavors of papaya and guava with a good dose of citrus to keep it refreshing. Gamble Family Vineyards Rosé 2015 ($22): Tom Gamble makes some of the best wines from small lots. His sauvignon blancs and complex red blends top $100 a bottle. But this rosé, while reasonably priced, shows off the same Gamble quality. It’s no surprise that this reasonably priced entry is balanced, refreshing and balanced with strawberry and watermelon flavors. Domaine Paul Mas Astela Rosé Pastel 2015 ($18): Using grenache, syrah, mourvedre and cinsault grapes grown in the Languedoc, this interesting rose has more dimension than most. Cline Cellars Ancient Vines Rose 2016 ($17): Made entirely from mourvedre grapes, this has fresh acidity and easy-drinking red grape and citrus flavors. Robert Mondavi Carneros Pinot Noir 2014 ($27): This reasonably priced pinot noir from Carneros is enjoyed for its simplicity and pure fruit.

It has earthiness, dark cherry fruit and a dash of cloves. Albatross Ridge Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2014 ($55): This is a smooth textured, delicious pinot noir from Carmel Valley, Monterey County. Ripe cherry fruit with a good dose of spice. Tasca Lamuri Nero d’Avola DOC 2014 ($15): This full-bodied and delicious nero d’Avola from Sicily rocks with extracted black cherry and vanilla and smoke aromas followed by dark berry flavors. Delicious and a great value.Do you have a question for Dr. Vinny? I may not be as wise in the ways of love as I am in the ways of wine, but with Valentine’s Day coming up, I can certainly help you impress your date.Here's some of my most important advice for romance, and sparkling wine in particular. I get asked a lot of bubbly questions throughout the year, so I’ve compiled some of the most popular questions from my archives. You might also want to brush up on the Bubbly Basics so you can dazzle your valentine with your sparkling knowledge along with your sparkling conversation.

What kind of wine is recommended on a first date? If you’re going out to have a glass of wine on a first date, I’m hoping you’ll let your date order whatever he or she likes. If that’s not the case, and you’re picking out the wine, find out what their favorite wine is, and order that! Otherwise, assuming there’s no need to pair a wine with any particular food or scenario, I vote for bubbly. It goes with everything, is romantic and celebratory, and those bubbles are very refreshing in case you get some first date jitters. What’s the best way to quickly chill a bottle of bubbly? You might be surprised, but it’s not the freezer. Thanks to physics—namely thermal conductivity here—a bottle of bubbly will chill down much faster in cold water than cold air. Find a container that you can properly submerge most of a bottle of bubbly in. A sink can work in a pinch, too. Surround it with ice and water and dump a bunch of salt in there, too. The salt will reduce the freezing point of water, magically allowing it to get even colder.

I’ve heard you can add as much as a cup of salt for every gallon of water, but I find that if I add more than a few tablespoons of salt it has trouble dissolving. To help move the process along, you can also spin the bottle around, to maximize the contact of the liquid inside with the increasingly chilled down bottle. I wouldn’t give it to vigorous a swirl unless you’re opening the bottle in a locker room after winning the pennant. I’d give this salty ice bath, gentle rotation process at least 15 minutes before trying to open the bottle. I always get so nervous opening a bottle of sparkling wine. The most important thing about opening a bottle of bubbly is to start with a really cold bottle. The colder the bottle, the less likely the cork will jump out, and the less fizzy and messy it will be. Likewise, try to not shake it up too much to tempt the bubbles to spurt out. You’ll typically have to remove the foil capsule first, and there’s often a handy pull-tab to help you with that.

Then you’re facing what’s called the “cage”—the wire contraption that holds the cork in place. Several (usually six) twists counterclockwise of the round part will loosen the cage. You don’t have to remove the cage, just put your thumb on top. If your bottle is warm or has been agitated, your cork might pop out at this point, so make sure you are always pointing the cork away from anyone’s face, including your own. At this point I like to grab a napkin and use it for traction, as well as to protect my hand from any excited bubbles. They say it’s best to grab and hold on to the cork and twist the bottle, but I find that’s overly simple of an explanation—there’s often a little bit of wiggling of the cork, too. As much fun as it might be to watch the cork go flying or encourage the loudest of pops when the cork is removed, it’s both impractical (you might lose some bubbly that way) and not the “proper” way, if you care about that sort of thing. Ideally the bottle should sigh as the cork is removed, rather than "pop."

Once the cork starts to get loose, I find myself pushing back on it so it doesn’t go flying, ideally letting the air out of one side and not the whole cork at once. What does “brut” mean in terms of Champagne? “Brut” is one of my favorite words when it comes to sparkling wine, as it refers to the driest category of bubblies, and my mouth is watering just thinking of it. After brut, in ascending order of sweetness, are extra-dry (or extra sec), sec, demi-sec and doux. Brut is sometimes broken down further into “extra brut” and “brut natural,” in which case “natural” is the driest of the dry, indicating that no sugar at all has been added, referring to dosage, or the addition of sweetened wine or spirit after the sediment is disgorged. What is the best way to store fine Champagne? Fine or not, bubbly should be stored the same way all wine should be stored: away from light, heat, vibration and temperature fluctuation. If you have a cooling unit, keep it at 55° F, with 70 percent humidity.

If not, find a relatively secure spot, maybe in the corner of a closet. You’ll need to chill the bubbly down before serving, and the fastest way to do that is in an ice bath. There are a couple of caveats about sparkling wine storage. Typically, I always recommend storing wine bottles on their sides to keep the corks damp. This step isn’t necessary for sparkling wines—it stays pretty humid inside the bottle with all the carbonation in there. Also, Champagne and other bubblies are extremely sensitive to light, which is why they’re typically in such dark bottles, to protect the wine from UV rays. Keep that in mind when picking a storage spot. Can you please offer some advice on how long Champagne can be stored and still be OK to drink? I have some bottles that could be as old as 5 years. They have been kept in a cool, dry environment throughout. I have a feeling your bubbly will be fine, since it’s been stored in a cool place. As I’ve written before, Champagne and other bubblies can really age well, especially the better ones.

After a while, the carbonation starts to fade, the colors darken and the fresh fruit flavors evolve into toasty, nutty ones. But those changes would typically take place closer to the 10-year mark. I've been told that Champagne is ruined if it is chilled and then returned to room temperature before chilling again and serving. Can you tell me what gets ruined and what the physics/chemistry of ruination are? "The Physics of Ruination"—I love it. Sounds like a book I'd like to read or a band I'd listen to. But be reassured: the process you describe will not "ruin" your sparkling wine. Nonetheless, your letter brings up a technical but interesting point. (Interesting to me, at least.) Sparkling wine is a delicate thing—it's much more sensitive to light and temperature fluctuations than still wine. Somewhere, my high-school chemistry teacher is laughing at me for trying to explain this. Here goes: Carbon dioxide is the gas that gives bubbly its bubbles. The solubility of carbon dioxide depends on the temperature of the liquid it is in.

As the temperature goes up, the carbon dioxide is less soluble and wants to escape rapidly. If you've ever sprayed yourself by opening a warm can of soda or beer, you've experienced this phenomenon. If the liquid is well-chilled, the carbon dioxide solubility is greater, and it's harder for the gas to get out. A well-chilled glass of sparkling wine will have a gentle stream of tiny bubbles that last a long time as carbon dioxide is slowly released. The change in solubility is not instant. It takes a while for all the carbon dioxide to recombine inside the wine. If you chill a warm bottle rapidly, a bunch of the carbon dioxide will still wants to flee, even though the bottle might feel cold. If you'd like to preserve the carbonation (and not lose most of your wine in a gushing fountain of big, aggressive bubbles), try to not mess with the temperature of your sparkling wine, and chill it gradually. I recommend 30 minutes in a bucket of ice and water. What's with the seemingly new idea of drinking Champagne in a standard wineglass versus a flute?

I've been seeing and hearing more and more about this. Are we looking at another screw cap versus cork debate? It’s acceptable—and preferred by some—to serve sparkling wines in a regular white-wineglass. I think that how many and what types of wineglasses you invest in depends a lot on how much and what kinds of wine you drink. There are some really good all-purpose wineglasses that I use daily, then I have specialty red ones that are bigger that I bring out when I have company, and since I drink a lot of bubbly, I also have Champagne flutes. I don’t have many, so sometimes at a dinner party I’ll serve bubbly in a regular wineglass. I like flutes because they feel festive to me. I believe the narrow opening helps prevent the bubbles from escaping too rapidly, and it’s fun to watch the bubbles rise through the chimney to the surface. The bad thing about a flute is that it’s difficult to stick your nose in the glass to take in the wine’s aromatics. (And some of the best sparkling wines really deserve to have their aromatics enjoyed.)