We've all heard the story of Cleopatra's legendary powers of seduction over Julius Caesar and later, Mark Antony. Yet consider this. What if the tool of seduction wasn't Cleopatra's famed beauty, but her secret stash of a bright ruby red sparkling wine with a bouquet of roses and violets?

Ancient historians write of a sweet, aromatic wine with the distinctive flavor of musk and a candied, floral aroma. Over the years, historians - and connoisseurs of gourmet cuisine and good wine - have lost track of this wine, now believed to be made from the Brachetto grape (grown in areas in small towns in the provinces of Allesandria and Asti, Italy).

In the early years of the previous century, self-styled Brachettos made of moscato nero, malvasia, or aleatico grapes flooded the market unchecked. In 1992, the Consorzio di Tuela del Brachetto d'Acqui was founded to control the growth and development of the true Brachetto wine and in 1996, played a key role in obtaining DOCG (Designation of Controlled and Guaranteed Origin) status.

With its scintillating ruby red color and bouquet of rose petals and raspberries, this delicious, pleasantly sweet, effervescent wine is a natural to begin or end a romantic dinner, or break out for friends and family to enjoy for holiday parties and New Year's Eve. At only about 5.5% alcohol, Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG makes a great afternoon aperitif and pairs well with bitter chocolate, light sweets, fruit tarts, and Italian cookies such as Gli amaretti di Mombaruzzo, a traditional amaretti biscuit indigenous to the area.

In America, many celebrity chefs are discovering this increasingly popular wine as an adjunct to their tasting menus. Terence Feury of the celebrated Striped Bass restaurant in Philadelphia paired Banfi Brachetto d'Acqui Vigneto La Rosa 1998 with white nectarine carpaccio with cherry Breton and brown-butter ice cream when he was invited to prepare dinner at the prestigious James Beard House in NYC. An unconventional, creative way to use the wine is to freeze it into a granita (frozen flavored ice) to refresh the palate between courses.

According to the regulation of DOCG status of 1996, Brachetto d'Acqui must be produced from 100% brachetto grapes from the specified terroir. Brachetto grapes are harvested from the end of August to mid-September. The must soaks with the skins for two days in order to obtain the desired ruby color, then aged three months in the bottle. It should be drunk young to reveal its tantalizing scent of Bulgarian roses, must, and fruit.

DOCG status serves to establish the finer quality and characteristics of Brachetto d'Acqui compared to the more generic Piedmonte Brachetto. At a price of under $20 dollars a bottle, you don't have to wait for the holidays to roll around to try it. Try popping the cork in the heat of summer when your thoughts turn to rose. Or even in the dead of winter, for its rose perfume and effervescence is sure to cheer you up and remind you that warm, sunny days are just around the corner.

Marenco "Pineto" Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG 2005, $20.00

Imported by VIAS, Inc. - 212 629 0200 - http://www.viaswine.com

Honeyed notes of violets, honey, orange blossom and raspberry on the nose and palate, delicious.

"Braida" di Giacomo Bologna Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG 2005, $16.00

Imported by Vinifera Imports - 631 467 5907 - http://www.viniferaimports.com

Lush, aromatic bouquet with hints of ripe red fruit and fragrant rose.

Gatti Piero Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG 2005, $9.99

Imported by Summa Vittis, Inc. - 707 933 0906 - http://www.summavitis.com

Intense and aromatic, with notes of rose, strawberry, and wild cherry.

Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG 2005, $16.00

Imported by Banfri Vintners - 516 626 9126 - http://www.banfivintners.com

Dark wild cherry on the nose and palate, along with strawberry and roses. A perfect foil for bittersweet dark chocolate.

Cantine Neirano Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG Dolce V.S.Q.P.R.D., $10.00

Imported by Biagio Cru & Estate Wines - 516 299 4344 - http://www.biagiocru.com

Sweet and delicate, with accents of raspberry, rose, and wild cherry.

Or, you can try http://www.wine-searcher.com

Looking for an attractive looking sparkler for Valentine's Day? Think pink! Rose colored champagne and sparkling wine is all the rage this year - possibly because it is so gorgeous to look at. Also, wines made from the Pinot Noir grape (the darker skins is what gives it the pretty rose color) have more tannins, so if you are enjoying salmon or lightly cooked veal the wine will complement the dish well.

Above is a picture of Elyssia Pinot Noir from Spain, produced by Freixenet - one of the largest wine companies in the world. Yet what's interesting about Freixenet is that it is family run despite its size, and I even had dinner with its CEO Pedro Ferrer in October when I visited the Freixenet properties in Spain. This wine is fabulous -- affordable yet elegant.

In terms of French champagne, I enjoyed several favorites chosen by Ed McCarthy (author of Champagne for Dummies and a fellow member of the Wine Media Guild) during

"Would you like to start with Champagne?" the waiter asks as you and your Sweetie sit down to celebrate Valentines Day. As this is a day set apart for sparklers, your answer should be, "Of course."

Even people who prefer still wine drink sparklers on Valentines Day, quite possibly because the sparkle in the glass holds the promise of the night ahead. In the finest five-star restaurants around the world, champagne is often offered from a cart, with the sommelier explaining the various producers. On Valentine's Day, most waiters will also ask you if you'd like to start out with a glass.

Depending on your budget for the evening, you may want to look at the wine list first. Some top restaurants price their champagne at $25 a glass, sometimes more. Sure, it's top quality, but if price is an issue, you will be happy to learn you can find many impressive, delicious, affordable good quality sparkling wines on the list.

What is Champagne?

Americans commonly use the word champagne to refer to any sparking wine. Legally, only sparkling wine produced in the region of Champagne, France has the right to call their sparkling product Champagne. Even inside France, any wine that sparkles is called Cremant, not Champagne.

If you have had the good fortune to have tried genuine champagne and want to replicate that experience (but not the price), you will want to choose a sparkling wine made in what is called the "traditional method." For simplicity, this means the exact same wine making process is used as in the Champagne region, but the grapes are not specifically grown in the Champagne region. Nor are they necessarily the same three varietals of grapes used in the Champagne region: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meuniere.

At this point you may be thinking, hey, isn't Pinot Noir a black grape? Doesn't that make a red wine? Isn't that the grape that the film Sideways was all about? What does Pinot Noir have to do with top quality Champagne? Good questions.

For the last three hundred years, at least, Pinot Noir and also the black grape Pinot Meuniere were classical components of champagne. Their skins are black, but their flesh (and juice) is white. When made specifically as a red wine, Pinot Noir's red skin is allowed to macerate (soak and stain) the white juice. In the production of classic Champagne, Pinot Noir and Meuniere grapes are very carefully crushed so as not to let the black skin color the white juice.

Sometimes, only the Chardonnay grape is used to make traditional Champagne. As this has a white skin, the resulting champagne is categorized as a "Blanc de Blanc." In the best sparklers from California, though, you will find Blanc de Noir, a blend in which the black skins of the Pinot Noir and Meuniere grapes are allowed to slightly color the white juice. Beyond color, this also adds a bit of tannin and 'bite.' Many sparkling wines from Napa and Sonoma Valleys are excellent and range from around $20 - $60 in wine shops, and around $50 to $100 in restaurants.

Sparkling wine from Spain also uses the traditional method like Champagne, France, but the grape varieties are Parellada, Macabeo, and Xarello. Here's a tip: Spanish sparklers are as delicious as California wines, but much more affordable. As a bonus, some producers also generate the same yeasty, buttery, croissant aroma character as you may find in Champagne.

Sweeter than Cava and a different flavor profile entirely is Prosecco, which is produced in an area of Italy not too far from Venice. Prosecco is produced using a different method entirely, resulting in a product that usually contains some residual sugar and is usually quite affordable, both in stores and restaurants.

So go ahead, enjoy Valentine's Day with a sizzling sparkler. Who knows what the night may bring?

  Everyone fears the souffle falling as it makes its transition from the oven to the table.

First, there's the dramatic build up. In a restaurant, the waiter warns you before you order appetisers that a souffle takes a half hour to make so if you want it, you have to order it right that minute.

And then you have all the cooking shows where typically genial chefs with their TV kool-aid smiles turn all serious before they walk to the oven, put on their mitts, and begin a long lecture about how to remove the souffle safely.

Being served a fallen souffle is bad any time of the year, but on Valentine's day ... well, it just sets the wrong tone for the evening.

Yet a fallen souffle is not the worst thing that can happen. Ordering the wrong wine to accompany it is a bigger faux paux.

Wine Enthusiast takes a look at this most serious of issues, interviewing Laurent Chevalier of Payard Patisserie.

Here's Chevalier's advise in a nutshell:

1. Consider the flavors and textures of the dish and find a wine that balances them.

2. If the souffle is sweet and rich, avoid a sweet wine. Balanace it with a wine with some acidity, such as a Hungarian Tokay dessert wine or Quarts-de-Chaume (he likes Domaine de Baumard ) from the Loire, made with botrytized Chenin Blanc.

3. Flirt with the idea of a champagne to give the creamy souffle textural contrast.

So there you are, armed with everything you need to create romantic fireworks. Enjoy!