When Valentine’s Day falls on a Saturday, it seems extra special. This year, Valentine’s Day gets the extra special treatment. When Saturday, February 14, 2026, rolls around, while some people may be dining out, many others will be dining at home, cooking a fancier-than-usual meal, and opening a special bottle or two.
Sparkling wine may be the first thing many wine drinkers think of when celebrating the holiday, but it shouldn’t be the only wine that comes to mind. We spoke with four winery owners and winemakers about why a still wine should be on the table. They also offer some guidelines for choosing the right wines for your celebration.
It’s All About the Great Pairing
Located on Seneca Point, there’s a lot to love about Glen Hollow. Christopher Bennem, who owns the literary-focused winery and 100-year-old vacation cottage with his wife Lisa Moore, says they “fell in love with these gorgeous, beautiful cool climate wines” of the Finger Lakes when they lived in New York City.
Eventually, they moved to the region and became the current owners of the historic Glen Hollow, but winemaking didn’t happen right away. When a 2-acre old-vine vineyard around the corner from the property became available, one that produced award-winning Chardonnay, Bennem and Moore fell in love with that, too.
They’ve just released their first vintage, a 2024 Chardonnay and a 2024 Riesling, and Bennem says it’s already getting nice responses. He recommends the Chardonnay in particular for Valentine’s Day.
“Valentine’s Day, like anything else, is all about the great pairing after all. You want to find the right thing that goes with your experience,” says Bennem.
“I love the way that bubbly gets your palate started and ready for action,” he says, and recommends beginning the evening with sparkling wine. But when it comes time for the meal, Glen Hollow’s beautiful, velvety Chardonnay with its bright acids will pair so well with food.
And if you need inspiration, Bennem has a specific food pairing in mind.
“I am a sucker for our estate Chardonnay that pairs beautifully with scallops in white wine and caper sauce,” he says.
Choosing Your Wine by Gauging Your Mood
At Damiani Wine Cellars in Burdett on the East Side of Seneca Lake, the message already exists that still wines are appropriate for a celebration.
“Just as much as we like to tell our customers that sparkling wines aren’t exclusively for celebrations, we like to share that still wines are also perfect for celebrating. I personally find it’s nice to celebrate with both,” says winemaker Katey Larwood.
February 14 is definitely one of those celebratory days.
“Valentine’s Day is a celebration of relationships and love. We can’t think of a better way to spend time with a loved one than by sharing a bottle of wine, the beverage meant for connection and togetherness,” she says. “Valentine’s Day wines can be both fun and contemplative. It just depends on the mood of the day!”
For fun and lighthearted celebrations, she recommends Damiani’s Bouquet Rose, a blend of Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Lemberger, Saperavi, and Pinot Meunier. It pairs well with cheese boards or spicy Asian noodle dishes.
“For the more reflective celebrations, our Cabernet Franc does great, paired with practically any type of cuisine—and definitely chocolate—but best served at a slight chill,” says Larwood.
Reaching for the Library Wines for the Special Day
“Sparkling wine is lovely for a toast, but it’s not going to hold up for dinner,” says Kim Wagner, co-owner of Stoutridge Distillery & Winery in Marlboro. She suggests that if you’re only going to share one bottle for the evening, “a still wine will take you from pre-dinner through dinner and into dessert.”
Stoutridge produces natural wines. The only thing added to them is yeast. Wagner has two recommendations from the current portfolio, recently released from Stoutridge’s library.
For a classic Valentine’s Day steak dinner, Wagner recommends the 2010 Merlot/Frontenac blend that has deep, rich purple fruits from the Frontenac and a bright red zestiness from the Merlot.
“It’s very food-friendly,” says Wagner.
Of course, after the steak course comes dessert, and she has a pairing for that, too.
“Our 2008 Frontenac is excellent for Valentine’s Day because it goes very well with dark chocolate,” says Wagner. That dark chocolate can take the form of candy, cake, or even pudding.
Dessert Deserves a Special Bottle
Some food-friendly wines go well with both the main dish and dessert, but if there’s a special focus on the final course of the evening, a dessert wine—like Lake Ontario’s Colloca Estate Winery’s Late Harvest Dolce Riesling—makes that focus exceedingly sharp.
“Our Late Harvest Dolce Riesling is from a 3-acre block we let hang,” says Chris Colloca, owner and chief wine taster of the winery. That long hang time concentrates the sugars, and the grapes develop flavors like apricot and pineapple.
“It’s a delicious wine with a wonderful balance of acidity from the Great Lake Ontario,” he says, and recommends pairing it with something like French apple pie with New York state cheddar cheese or simply a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream.
In addition to the late harvest wine, Colloca says he may start off Valentine’s dinner with the winery’s Melia Eres Rosé made from Frontenac Gris, Frontenac Blanc, and Cayuga White.
His choice of pairing for the rosé? Chicken stuffed with spinach, fontina, and shiitake mushrooms.
But Colloca doesn’t rule out serving sparkling wine in addition to the still wines.
“We like to start the evening with bubbles,” he says. Sparkling wine can be for welcoming people, toasting, and perhaps sipping on while preparing the meal. But then, move on to the still wines.
“It’s always nice to have a variety,” Colloca says. “It’s fun to try different things, pair food with different flavors, and mix it up a little bit.”
Throughout New York state, there are wineries producing quality still and sparkling wines that should be part of your Valentine’s Day celebration. So mix it up a little. Pop the cork on more than one bottle. Perhaps choose three bottles on February 14: a sparkling to start the evening, a still red, white, or rosé to pair with the main course, and a dessert wine to end your meal ever so sweetly.
