If it's pink fizz you're after this Valentine’s Day then here are my top 10 choices

For a start, you need to organise the food, which might be easy if you have a supermarket slot, or just call up your local butcher, fishmonger and grocer and flex the credit card.

Do you need to bother? After all, those in long-term relationships have been cooped up together for months on end. Surely Valentine’s Day is just another day in lockdown? Absolutely not.

This period of togetherness has tested us all. Partners who should be out at work are taking over the kitchen table. Children who should be at school have been playing havoc with normal schedules. Parents have had to wrestle with subjects they have forgotten, and grandparents at the end of a Zoom call have been learning again, too.

So it is definitely time to be grateful for someone to share these days of panic and pandemic with. Forget about the usual Valentine’s card. Getting out to buy one is too much trouble. Instead focus on a good dinner, à deux, with tasty food and some good wines.

Bubbles tell a girl – or a man – that you love them. It is the pop of the cork and the whoosh of the bubbles that lifts the mood. Is it worth going pink? Definitely! From delicate shades of ballet-shoes pink to strident, almost red wines, the rose-petal aromas and red fruit flavours in pink bubbly add even more to your special evening. And pink is good with food.

From smoked salmon nibbles to a rare rack of lamb or even a fillet steak, rosé fizz can fit around the food, making the whole occasion seem special.

Your pink fizz doesn’t have to be champagne. Not only is the UK making some spectacular wines, so is the rest of the world. From Italian Prosecco to Chilean País, there is a fine selection that will make your Valentine’s evening pleasant and maybe even passionate.

Here are my top ten choices.

Millesimato Prosecco Rosé Brut, 2019, Italy, Marks & Spencer, £8: A Brut (dry) style of Prosecco which makes it brighter, fresher and more food friendly. Full of red fruit flavours and great value.

Tesco Finest Crémant de Limoux Rosé, France, Tesco, down from £12 to £10 until February 14: Bottle-fermented fizz at a bargain price. This comes from the cool hills of Limoux in southern France and made mainly from Chardonnay with Pinot Noir adding red fruits and colour, while a splash of Chenin Blanc retains freshness and finesse. Aged 12 months on its lees for mouthfeel and depth of flavour.

Estelado Rosé, Torres, Chile, Roberts & Speight, Beverley, £10.99: Fresh with citrus and red fruits, this delightful pale pink fizz is made from the ancient País grape which arrived in Chile hundreds of years ago with the Spanish Conquistadors. These vineyards were the start of Chile’s wine business but were abandoned when international varieties were planted. Now the old vines have been rediscovered and are making great wines.

La Folie Mirabeau Sparkling Rosé, France, Waitrose, down from £14.99 to £10.99 until February 14: Made from a blend of southern French grapes using the same “in tank” method as Prosecco, this is a remarkable fizz with a delicate pink colour and a taste of wild strawberry with pink grapefruit freshness.

La Terrasse Sparkling Rosé, Vin de France, Jean-Claude Mas, Sainsbury’s, £14: New to the shelves, this sparkling wine from the most dynamic winemaker in the south of France is made from a mix of Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, Grenache Gris and a substantial splash of Pinot Noir to add

the taste of wild strawberry fruit with gentle citrus notes. Dry, and elegant pour this alongside sushi, or lightly spiced dishes.

Graham Beck Brut Rosé NV, South Africa, Majestic, £16.99, down to £14.99 on a mix-six deal: It is always worth picking six mixed bottles from Majestic just to get the deals. This comes from one of South Africa’s best sparkling producers and is terrific value for its crisp, lively strawberry and cherry fruit and long, fresh finish.

Les Pionniers Rosé Champagne, Co-op, down from £22 to £20 until February 23: Made by one of the great Champagne houses, this has complex red berry fruits with a creamy, rounded style. Les Pionniers is consistently good and tremendous value.

Devaux Oeil de Perdrix Rosé Champagne, Majestic Wines, £27.99, down to £20.99 on a mi- six deal: The name translates as “partridge eye”, which is a historic way of describing pink wine. However if you haven’t seen a partridge eye recently that information may not be terribly useful. But the wine is terribly good. It is the palest of pink, but despite the lack of colour it is full of cherry, strawberry and cranberry fruit, and has the softest of dry finishes.

Taittinger Prestige Rosé Champagne Brut, Tesco, down from £40 to £35 until February 14: Elegant and complex with tiny creamy bubbles and a palate that hints of wild cherries, raspberry and blackcurrant. Savoury and long-lasting on the palate, this will happily accompany fish, chicken or even a roast rack of lamb.

Rathfinny Rosé Brut, 2017 Sussex, England, Harvey Nichols, £36: This vineyard now sprawling over 93 hectares of Sussex chalk is emerging as one of England’s most important vineyards. I was fortunate to taste the first vintage of Rathfinny Rosé which was elegant and balanced. Now the 2017 is the third vintage, just released and it has that same precise, fresh strawberry and raspberry aroma, edged with lively freshness with a bright, clear finish. Perfect as an aperitif or to carry through to accompany grilled scallops and prawns. Harvey Nichols is still on the gorgeous 2016 vintage which has the benefit of some bottle age.