Before we get into the appropriately named Carnival of Love, let me elaborate on the Mollydooker Shake.

Virtually all wines contain small amounts of sulphite to preserve and protect them, as do many foods, and folks with extreme asthma can have a reaction to this oxygen blocker.

Mollydooker greatly reduces this by the use of nitrogen, but this compresses the flavours. Pour a little of the 2011 Mollydooker (Australian for left-hander) Carnival of Love into a glass.

Re-cap the bottle and give it a good shake and then pour another glass. Compare the two and you will be amazed — and do not think that an aerator or decanting will have the same desired effect.

You should do this with the whole Mollydooker range that we carry: Blue Eyed Boy, The Boxer, Maitre D, The Scooter and Two left Feet.

When you offer a glass of the McLaren Vale Shiraz to your love, you can tell them that Wine Spectator gave it 94/100 and described it as “dense, deep and complex, offering a cascade of cherry, blueberry and clotted cream flavours, with a whole range of spices on a plush texture”.

The 2012 that we have in our warehouse placed second on December’s Wine Spectator top 100 Wines in the World with a score of 95/100. What an enviable track record.

A bottle of Mollydooker Carnival of Love will cost you $89.95. As luck would have it, we are also listing the 2011 vintage as one of our February specials and it can be purchased for $71.96.

We are driving down a country road in Chile and our young driver is listening to Leonard Cohen on the radio.

We start talking about the poetry of this ultra-talented Canadian and he asks if I have heard of Vincente Huidobro (1893-1948) and his epic Chilean poem called Altazor.

I had not, but when we arrived at the Undurraga winery I was presented with a copy.

I would give up this wonderful world of wine tomorrow if I could write “I ask you again were you meant to be mute; so God gave you those eyes” or “I found you like a teardrop in some forgotten book; With your name that has always ached in my chest; Your name that is made of the sounds of doves flying”.

Well their top wine at Undurraga is called Altazor and we have the 2007 vintage.

This is a blend of 61 per cent Cabernet Sauvignon, 20 per cent Carmenere and the rest is made up of Syrah, Carignan and Petit Verdot.

It is a brooding wine that is explosively perfumed with blackberries, cherry, vanilla and liquorice. It is modern in style with a smooth, persistent finish and it is at a good time in its life now, but should go on for another 15 years. It costs $55.25.

“Remember tonight; For it is the beginning of always”. The famed poet and playwright behind those words, Dante Alighieri, had a son who bought a vineyard in his native Italy in 1334 and we still have wines from his decedents.

The Alighieri family wines are called Masi. They “invented” the process of drying grapes for three months on straw mats then making an intense wine called Amarone.

A warm fire and a bottle of Masi Costasera Amarone sounds good to me. The Wine Enthusiast magazine said of our latest 2010 vintage: “95/100. Ripe dark fruit, nutmeg, clove and tobacco aromas lead the nose on this bold and balanced wine. The rich palate delivers black plum, raisin, cinnamon, black pepper and liquorice supported by velvety tannins and fresh acidity. Combining elegance and power, it boasts wonderful depth. Drink 2015—2025.” We have vintages going back to 1986 but the 2010 costs $53.65.

• This column is a paid for advertorial for Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. Michael Robinson is Director of Wine at Burrows Lightbourn Ltd. He can be contacted at mrobinson@bll.bm or 295-0176. Burrows Lightbourn have stores in Hamilton (Front Street East. 295-1554), Paget (Harbour Road, 236-0355) and St. George’s (York Street, 297-0409). A selection of their wines, beers and spirits are available online at www.wineonline.bm.