Roses and chocolates are lovely on Valentine’s Day, but those who really want to turn up the romance need one essential item on the dinner table: wine.
With its alluring aromas, complex flavors, and smooth, silky textures, wine is more than just a perfect pairing partner for a meal. It’s the ultimate mood setter, captivating all the major senses with its lustrous shades of red and pink and tantalizing expressions that evolve on the palate over time. What better way to enjoy a special moment with your Valentine than staring into each other’s eyes while sipping on something so deliciously deep and sexy and cloaked in unspoken nuance? Even better if it tastes good with steak and lobster.
Of course, picking out the right bottle of red or rosé wine for any occasion is never easy. Luckily for you, plenty of bottles from Black-owned brands can make for a special Valentine’s Day gift or set the tone for a romantic evening for lovebirds. Here are a few worth pouring.
Winemaker Pampata Airaudi and her husband David launched the California-based sparkling wine brand Sapere Aude in 2012, focusing on making low-alcohol bubbly with no residual sugar, no sulfites, and remarkable taste. The couple’s signature pale pink sparkling rosé is made with Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes sourced from California’s Sonoma Coast and Mendocino wine regions. A fresh and crisp sparkling, this wine features enticing aromas of ripe strawberry and raspberry and a hint of buttered toast, while the palate displays tart cherry nuances with delicate, tiny bubbles that dissipate into a long, creamy, and vibrant finish.
Award-winning winemaker Ntsiki Biyela makes this full-bodied South African wine. Cabernet Sauvignon grapes from the Western Cape are the stars here. The wine is deep, dark, and full of complexity with aromas and flavors of dark fruits, mint, baking spices, and tobacco. Grippy tannins provide a sturdy backbone, and the finish, dashing with clean acidity and black cherry flavor, lingers on and on.
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Brown Estate was one of the first Black-owned wineries established in Napa Valley in the mid-1990s. With more than 25 vintages under their belt, the family-owned winery recently launched the House of Brown label, a collection of sustainable, vegan-friendly, and approachable wines made by women of color on the Brown Estate winemaking team. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir from Lodi, California, is used to create a light-bodied red style of red wine that displays herbal nuances of hibiscus and rose tea leaves, pomegranate, and spicy cinnamon. Pro tip: Give this one a chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before opening.
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Zimbabwe-born Tinashe Nyamudoka’s South African label Kumusha has taken the wine world by storm since its introduction in 2020. The big and bold “Hurudza” red blend is made with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot sourced from Stellenbosch, resulting in a wine that is highly aromatic with dark fruit flavors. The wine is rich with notes of purple plum, blueberry, and tomato leaf on the palate. It features fine, grainy tannins — polyphenols found in grape skins, leaves, and seeds that influence a wine’s astringency — that lead to a long, mouthwatering finish.
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Former NBA champion and wine enthusiast Dwyane Wade wanted to bring California wines of quality with an approachable edge to the Black community. He did that with the creation of Wade Cellars in 2014. Established in partnership with famous Napa vintner Jayson Pahlmeyer, Wade Cellars produces a bevy of red and white wines, but the winery’s light pink rosé is a standout among the crowd. A blend of Syrah, Grenache, Tempranillo, and Zinfandel results in a splashy and tropical wine with plenty of body and structure. You can’t miss the melon and guava nuances oozing out of the bottle, and the wine has a fresh, tart, and fruity finish with a touch of sweetness that begs for another pour.
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Owned by sommelier, restaurateur, and winemaker André Hueston Mack, the winery Maison Noir has operated in Oregon’s Willamette Valley since its launch in 2007. Though red wine is at the heart of Maison Noir’s production, the winery excels at making mouthwatering rosé, too. The “Love Drunk” rosé is made with a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes that smells and tastes like a basket of tropical fruit. Aromas of strawberry, watermelon, and kiwi are abundant. Medium-body and smooth, the palate is soaked in similarly refreshing fruit notes while the finish lingers on and on with citrusy flavor.
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