Four drinks to savour and seduce on Valentine’s Day

Choose your tipple: Wine is fine but maybe liquor is slicker? — Choose your tipple: wine is fine, but maybe liqueur is slicker? Photograph: LDProd/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Is there such a thing as a romantic drink? Of course there is, you’ll say. Champagne, for a start, or anything fizzy and pink, basically. It’s hard to avoid the cliches at this time of year – and why should you, if your partner is hearts’n’flowers-inclined? But so many aren’t. (I should know: I was married to two of them, which didn’t mean they weren’t loving; just that they didn’t feel under any obligation to succumb to the massive commercial pressure to demonstrate it on V-day.)

For me, romance consists of deciding what drink would surprise and delight your loved one – a bottle that shows you’ve really thought about them, so it could be anything from a lush red to a decent, alcohol-free bevvy.

Or a gin. Obviously. I suspect most of you would welcome a gin more than anything else. I’ve discovered two recently that would hit the spot, even though one of them is pink: Palmers Strawberry & Rose Gin, which has a delicate, strawberry flavour and actually tastes rather good on the rocks; and the award-winning Thunderflower Devon Dry Gin (£37.95 thunderflower.co.uk, 42%), which, despite sounding like the sort of name lovers use in their Valentine’s Day messages (does Bunnikins love his Thunderflower?), is a punchy gin of considerable character flavoured with cardamom and pink peppercorns. (The same distiller also makes granola, so make of that what you will.)

More conventionally, the Co-op has a Pink Grapefruit and Elderflower Gin Liqueur (20%) in its “Irresistible” range, currently on offer at a very affordable £10 (for 50cl). It’s a tad sweet for me, but it’s a lovely-looking bottle.

In terms of the constantly improving non-alcoholic options, the Bees Knees Sparkling Rosé could appeal if you’re looking for alcohol-free fizz. And the cleverly marketed Outfox White (£17.99 for six 330ml bottles from drydrinker.com), in its tactile, smooth, white bottle, offers a fair approximation of the citrus and passionfruit character of a sauvignon blanc.

Personally, I’m holding out for a sexy red, and there is none sexier than the Pianogrillo Frappato I tasted recently at the appropriately named Passione Vino just off Old Street in central London. It’s a Sicilian grape variety that generally produces light, juicy reds, but this is a step up with an almost silky, Burgundian quality and an elusive whiff of woodsmoke – verrry seductive.