Sweets for the sweet.

Valentine's Day is looming and, sure, you could wait till the last minute and then pick up a prosaic heart-shaped box full of second-rate candy, as usual. Or, you could take advantage of all the goodies just a phone call away and let your letter carrier become Dan Cupid.

Chocolate's aphrodisiac-like reputation always has made it the treat for lovers. Combine sheer intensity of the chocolate experience with an inspired name and you have Chocolove (1-888-246-2656), a Boulder, Colo., firm that produces chocolate to die for. With cocoa liquor, sugar, and cocoa butter as the predominant ingredients; wrappers adorned with X's and O's to symbolize kisses and hugs; a love poem printed inside the wrapper; and imported Belgian chocolate (arguably the world's finest), Chocolove's cedar presentation box of eight 3.2-ounce bars is the ultimate chocoholic's delight. The cocoa content is indicated on each, beginning with the 33% in its Pure Milk bar and escalating ever upward: Milk+Beans (40%), Pure Dark (55%), Dark+Beans (60%), Rich Dark (65%), two Strong Dark (70 and 77%), and, finally, Baking (100%), designed for cooking purposes. The beans, by the way, are crunchy cocoa beans. Accompanying each box is a pamphlet on "Enjoying Chocolove Chocolate," which rivals the Kama Sutra for sensuous descriptions. The boxed gift set is $32, including shipping, and worth every penny.

Superb Austrian chocolate is featured in Vienna Delights from Niemitz U.S.A. Inc., New York (1-212-333-8662). Resembling Mallomars in concept, with a dark chocolate coating over a mousse-like filling sitting on a wafer, Vienna Delights put their American cousins to shame, so light and airy that they virtually melt in the mouth. All four flavors -- Choco, Vanilla, Cafe Creme (coffee), and Banana -- are intense, with the latter avoiding the cloying after-taste artificial fruit flavors usually produce. Dark chocolate or coconut-covered, they are available in packages of 20 or 40 from about $12 to $20.

Less traditional are the confections from Savannah's Candy Kitchen, Savannah, Ga. (1-800-443-7884). Specialties include Gophers (round chunks of pecan covered with caramel and topped with either dark, milk, or white chocolate), Divinity (succulent vanilla meringue capped with a large pecan half), and Pralines (pecans held together by a sticky hardened syrup created from rich cream and butter). A one-pound sampler comes in a box, tin, or basket for $19.90, with a three-pound tin running...