Champagne, yes. Sweet pinks… perhaps. But a dab of Pinot Noir behind the ears? Here are our four romantic wines for valentines. If you are single and fancy taking a flight to New York, Alessandra Rotondi can teach you a thing or two about seduction and wine. You might think that the time-sanctioned techniques linking alcohol and Ugandan activities are pretty simple (quantity or, if it's Champagne, quality), but Alessandra disagrees.

Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2003 has come out top in a blind-tasting championships. When I heard Nyetimber Classic Cuvee 2003 had come out top in a blind tasting at the world sparkling wine championships in Verona, beating super-brands such as Louis Roederer 2000 (who make the famous Cristal), my reaction was: so what? Blind tastings throw up weird results. When judges' scores are averaged out, the least offensive wine often comes out on top.

Sometimes it's as helpful to know what not to buy as what to put in your basket. From a pool of the decent, the dull and the expectorate immediately, I pick nice wines for you each week, but it's time to mention a few that would have me reaching for water however hard a day I'd had. So here, by super­market, is what not to drink.

When it's cold and miserable outside, perk things up in the kitchen by giving your cooking a citrussy bang. If, like me, you've really gone to town over the holiday season, now might be the time to rein it in a bit. But I don't want to feel in the least bit deprived, of course; you'll find no ode to crispbreads and skimmed milk here. So how do you perk up a jaded palate without ladling on yet more calories? Well, I reckon the perfect strategy at this time of year is to make friends with citrus fruits. Don't let them sit on the sideboard sulking with the walnuts – get them into the kitchen and into your dinner quicker than you can say "squeeze".