Picking a bottle of wine for Valentine’s dinner at home can leave one person unhappy.

You were anticipating Valentine’s Day bliss, a cozy dinner and a little cooing over a bottle of wine. Suddenly, however, it’s high noon. You and your partner face off, hands at the ready, trigger fingers twitching. The day of romance is not going to end well.

What caused this showdown? Wine, of course. One person craves red, the other demands white. Maybe there are no six guns blazing, but there could be hard feelings.

“It depends on who is more willing to budge,” says Natalie Johnson, who pours at the Joyce Wine Company tasting room in Carmel Valley. “Sometimes the compromise is you get two bottles.”

Two is an option – unless the wallet disagrees. So which varietals will peacefully settle a wine-related standoff? “Grenache is a good choice,” says Maria Penaloza of the Scratch tasting room in Carmel Valley. “New couples tend to love the bubbles.”

Sparkling wine has long been considered celebratory. Grenache is friendly – fruit forward and a little spicy – and lighter on the tannins. And that’s the direction experts take you: lighter bodied reds, Rosé or sparklers.

Johnson, along with Kylie Kuwada of Carmel Valley’s Albatross Ridge, recommend Pinot Noir as a “meet in the middle” option, particularly as it pairs well with many different foods.

“Pinot – we’re in a good place for compromise,” Johnson says.

There are plenty of popular Pinots produced in Monterey County, so the pickings should be easy. But Johnson at Joyce offers one more option.

“Half bottles are a great idea,” she says. Valentine’s saved.