Romance And The Wine List - Choose Artfully On Valentine's Day To Send Just The Right Romantic Message - Shangri-La Hotel Wine Bar, Shanghai, Pudong

Romance - good, mutual romance - is all about confidence and connection and momentum. Simply ordering and tasting a glass of wine together is an opportunity to say I love you because when I taste this wine I think of you. The Shangri-La makes this sort of feeling very easy to achieve with their great Wine Bar List and tiny but perfect Wine Bar Menu.

Variety and options on Valentine's Day are also key to romance, and the Wine Bar is perfect if you're ordering by the glass or by the bottle. If you're intent on spending an impressive amount on a great bottle of classic European wine, the Shangri-La has a couple of very good choices too.

Sparkling At Night
Dom Perignon was made for God and Cristal was made for the Czar, and that's why you have such a price difference.  Between the two, I choose Dom Perignon because of the history and originality.

If you're going to play the Champagne game with pink wine, it better be the best ever, which this Billecart-Salmon is. It's impossible to ignore the money: 2 bottles of this for less than one bottle of Cristal? I prefer this pink bubbly from Billecart-Salmon anyway, and the price just backs me up. Three grape blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier makes it full of flavor and great with food - mushrooms, seafood, pork & veal.

Fancy Flights
It's tempting to put your wine night in someone else's hands, and when it works, it really works. The first few flights have too many wines and would be overwhelming any day of the year, but the last flights - three wines at a time - are perfect organization.

Flight 5 - If you love citrus fruit like lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit, this group is ideal for your palate.

Flight 6 - Clearly designed for the red wine lover. Ordering this reveals a secret carnivore streak.

Bargain By The Glass & Bottle
Legendary Ornellaia sells for many times more than this third (fourth?) cousin, a rustic blend of Sangiovese, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. For pure red wine enjoyment, this is the best buy on the list both by the glass and by the bottle. Ornellaia was first labeled simply Merlot, but by blending Le Volte, Ornellaia produces a more interesting wine for the present. Italian traditionalists will approve of this wine, so will wine lovers who've grown up on Australian, North and South American wines.

The Best New Wine You've Never Heard Of
Are you a romantic adventurer who wants to drink only wines you've never had before so you can always have that first taste experience in common? Of course you are. There's a ton of great wines on the list that remain tasty while running out of bounds a bit. Gruner continues to be the white wine darling of the wine world right now, the perfect sugar-free Riesling-like wine for people who don't like Riesling.

Going way off the California wine map is one way of signaling an American wine adventure.

Oregon hates its image as northern northern California. Oregon has perfected something California achieves rarely: authentic, old world style Pinot Noir. 

Adelsheim is expensive because it's original and it's a reserve, but at 818 it is just twice USA retail, still a great value.  Other members of the Pinot family grow well in Oregon too, and the Adelsheim Pinot Gris is a white wine steal.

Grenache is a red grape that's typically used in Europe of brighten a red wine and make it's flavor juicier and happier. Imagine Grenache alone - like we can experience it here - all of its sunny positive mental attitude transported to Australia and concentrated into one bottle. Perfect red for a happy day.

Wine With Food
The two best classic European wines on the list represent the larger dilemma European wines always pose: earth versus fruit? Or in this case, Syrah (Côte Rôtie) or Cabernet Sauvignon (Les Ormes de Pez). Let's go to the Wine Bar Menu and make both options work.

APERITIF

Fresh French Oysters
Mignonette dressing, lemon, Tabasco

Olive Varietals
Balsamic and olive oil dressing with Parmesan,
artisanal breads

• Adelsheim Pinot Gris

MEAT
Selection of Charcuterie
Imported cured meats, pickled onions, cornichons,
French baguette

Home-made Foie Gras Terrine
Caramelized apples, botanical spices, toasted Brioche

• Ch. Les Ormes de Pez (Cabernet Sauvignon - Merlot)

CHEESE
Assiette of International Cheeses
Selection of 5 Cheeses, chili chutney, dehydrated grapes,
toasted nuts, crackers

Seasonal Fresh Fruit Platter

• Domaine Jamet Côte Rôtie (Syrah)