Forget flowers … give your sweetheart chocolates this Valentine's Day. Maybe both, if you really want to make a good impression. For centuries, love-smitten men have hidden bouquets and boxes of chocolates behind their backs while they knocked on the front doors of the women they wanted to woo. In other countries, it's customary for women to give men chocolate on some occasions.

If today's vast array of chocolates in Hampton Roads stores is any indication of how chocolates can get you a sweetie, there will be a lot of romancing going on now through Feb. 14. To help you sort through the many boxes and bags of chocolates, we selected five familiar brands to sample.

Comments from our unscientific tasting were all over the place, so we have to agree with the Fine Chocolate Industry Association that "the definition of 'fine chocolate' can be as elusive as the definition of fine coffee, fine wine or even fine art."