Grab the holiday spirit with wine cocktails
Print Edition
I’m trying to get into the holiday spirit. What’s a fun, delicious and celebratory drink? A bottle of something special, sure, but great wines need to be slowly savored in their unadulterated purity in fine crystal glasses. These liquid treasures represent some of mankind’s paramount achievements but most of us can’t afford to crack open great wines on a frequent basis. More affordable, less august wines don’t require such exacting appreciation and can even be enjoyed as a cocktail. Yes, you read it correctly, there’s nothing wrong with wine cocktails.
Technically, there’s a difference between a wine cocktail and true cocktail. The former is predominantly wine while the later is mostly liquor. Wine cocktails tend to be lighter and more refreshing while cocktails with wine have a greater alcoholic kick. Let’s start light and easy.
Kir & Kir Royal
Since the advent of the commercial production of cassis, a sweet black current liquor from Dijon, France, began in 1841 the spirit was mixed with white wine to make a cocktail called blanc-cassis. After the World War II, the economy of Dijon like most of Europe was devastated. The new mayor of Dijon Felix Kir was looking for ways to promote local products. Because the blanc-cassis cocktail combined two important local products he started to serve the cocktail to visiting VIPs at official receptions. As a result word spread about this delicious, mouth-watering wine cocktail named after the promotion-mined mayor.
An offshoot of the Kir cocktail is the Kir Royal that mixes Champagne and Kir. There exist two schools of Kir lovers, old school proponents that like it sweet and new school drinkers who desire just a touch of sweetness. In Mayor Kir’s time, the drink was quite sweet with 2/3 white wine and 1/3 cassis. The traditional wine used to make a Kir is Aligote white wine from Burgundy; however any fresh, dry white wine is appropriate. I often use a Petit Chablis as it is easy to find and reasonably priced. In Shanghai, most international five-star hotels and restaurants and bars offer Kir and Kir Royal wine cocktails.
Bellini Cocktail
Giuseppe Cipriani, the owner of Harry’s Bar in Venice, created the Bellini cocktail a few years after he opened his bar in 1931. Comprising peach juice and Prosecco sparkling wine, the Bellini quickly became the most popular cocktail in Venice. Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis and Orson Wells all enjoyed Bellini wine cocktails at Harry’s Bar before they got down to more serious drinking.
Nowadays visitors to Venice can’t say they’ve actually been there unless they’re enjoyed a Bellini.
I’ve see some restaurants and bars make Bellini wine cocktails with Champagne, but this is a terrible mistake. The gentle and friendly nature of the drink is ruined by the intensity of Champagne. Always use Prosecco! Personally I favor more dry versions of this cocktail with about 1/6 peach juice and the rest Prosecco, but you’re free to use more peach juice if you want a sweeter drink. The next time you arrive at your favorite Italian restaurant, the first word out of your mouth should be Bellini.
The Mimosa is another fun wine cocktail with bubbles. Believed to the creation of Hotel Ritz Paris bartender Frank Meier in 1925, traditionally this drink is a blend of half orange juice and half Champagne. Sometimes a little grenadine is added. This is a great morning drink and thirst quencher on long flights. A stronger version is the Buck’s Fizz that was first concocted at Buck’s Bar in London and with two parts Champagne to one part orange juice. Legend has it that Buck’s Fizz was invented to give clients an excuse to start serious drinking earlier.
Kickers
When delicious and refreshing Kir, Bellini or mimosa wine cocktails aren’t strong enough, it’s time for a proper cocktail with wine. Enter the French 75. Named after the legendary World War I fieldpiece, the French 75, both the gun and the drink offer knockout blows. A staple drink in Paris during the Roaring 1920s and reputedly a favorite of legendary Jazz singer Josephine Baker who stylishly traveled with a pet cheetah, the drink is also featured in the movies, “Casablanca” (1942) with Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman and, “A Man Betrayed” staring John Wayne.
While the original WWI version of this drink featured gin, lemon juice, sweetener and Champagne, modern versions usually replace the gin with the French spirit Cognac. Belly up to any bar in France and say “Soixante Quince” or 75, and you’ll not only look really cool but you’ll be rewarded with a heady and deliciously dangerous drink. Any truly French restaurant or bar in Shanghai should be able to whip you up a French 75.
Other delightfully risky cocktails with wine are Death in the Afternoon and Flirtini. The legendary imbiber Earnest Hemingway invented Death in the Afternoon and named it after one of his books. Combining the highly alcoholic Swiss spirit Absinthe and Champagne, this drink is pure debauchery. Absinthe is an anise-flavored liquor made from botanics including flowers and herbs and is sometimes known to cause hallucinations. You’ve been warned.
The Flirtini may not be quite as perilous as the French 75 or Death in the Afternoon, but it’s far from harmless. Made from Vodka, Champagne and Pineapple juice, this cocktail was popularized in the television series, “Sex in the City.” The sweetness of the pineapple juice tends to hide the alcohol in the drink making this deceptively risky cocktail.
Region & Style at a glance
Varieties:
Blackcurrants are crushed, soaked in ethanol then a little sugar dosage is added.
Key Term:
PGI (protected geographic indication) status was granted to Creme de Caisis de Bourgogne, thereby guaranteeing the product comes from Burgundy and meets all production requirements.
Where to buy in Shanghai
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
