Wine is a natural in cocktails; it adds sweetness, fruit, mouth feel, acidity, even bubbles as
the case may be, all the while keeping alcohol levels down.
The Wine Spritzer, red or white, has got to be the busy bartender's dream order: fill
an ice-filled glass three-quarters of the way with the desired wine, top with soda, garnish and
serve. The Wine Cooler serves the same function only it is topped with lemon-lime
soda or ginger ale. The best wines for this purpose will have some good acidity to stand up to
the water from the mixer and the melting ice, be relatively free of earthy and herbal notes,
and in the case of reds have only moderate tannins. Your popular, easy-to-drink quaffing
wines fill the bill quite well.
The Kir, of course, is a classic wine cocktail: half ounce Crème de Cassis (black
currant liqueur) topped with white wine. The Kir was named after a hero of the
resistance in Burgundy during World War II, hence a truly French Kir would use wine
made from the acidic Aligoté grape, Burgundy's other white wine. Use sparkling
wine, and the cocktail becomes a Kir Royale.
An Appetizer mixes red wine with orange juice and a dash of bitters. A New York
Sour uses the typical formula of whiskey and sour mix but tops it with a half ounce of
red wine before garnishing with lemon and cherry. A Drunken Walter is simplicity
itself: red wine and cola in equal parts over ice.
Perhaps the best-known red wine concoction (which would be called a cocktail if it were
made by the glass) is Sangria. Sangria boasts many recipes, but the essence is red wine (with
white the option for a Sangria Blanca), citrus (in the form of juice, fruit or both), some form
of brandy or spirit, and sugar to taste. I believe the best Sangria contains a touch of
something bitter to counteract all that acid and sweet, perhaps a little lemon or orange zest
(my expensive cross-cultural experiments with Campari Sangria, alas, did not work out as I
had hoped.)
The Prince of Wales (it is currently Charles, but you might be reading this later so
who knows) is an interesting albeit expensive concoction, mixing brandy, Madeira (which I
adore), red wine, orange liqueur and bitters and topping with Champagne. While we are on
the fortified wine track, a Port in a Storm is a basic mixture of Port and Brandy
topped with dry red wine. In a recent sherry cocktail competition, the winning entry, La
Perla, by Jacques Bezuidenhout from Tres Agaves in San Francisco (famous for its
Tequila bar), combined Domecq Manzanilla Sherry, Gran Centenario Reposado Tequila and
Mathilde Pear Liqueur, served straight up in a chilled glass, and only nine bucks! The Sherry,
Tequila and liqueur trio seems a natural for explosive experimentation (if only Igor would
return from his sabbatical to help me).
Among white wine cocktails, I've used the White Water to advantage, astonishing
guests; it requires a half ounce Triple Sec, an ounce pineapple juice (freshly muddled of
course, as should be the case with every type of juice you serve to your guests), filled with
white wine (in my case a racy New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc) and topped with a dash of
lemon/lime soda. I have adapted this cocktail to use Fino Sherry (let's call it an Agua
Blanca, for lack of the gene that determines originality.) The Hawaiian Cocktail, a
cousin certainly, mixes white wine with dashes of both pineapple and grapefruit juice. I have
tried this and found it better enjoyed with a few dashes of bitters.
By far the natural cocktail wine is sparkling wine. The Champagne Cocktail (Victor
Laszlo ordered one in Casablanca, though his character seemed more of the ginger ale type) is
elegance itself: a sugar cube, a few dashes of wonderful bitters, topped with Champagne and
garnished with a twist. The simplest Mimosa is a Champagne and orange juice mix,
garnished with an orange slice; variations call for a dash of orange liqueur (Curaçao, Gran
Marnier, Cointreau or Triple Sec). An April in Paris is essentially the same thing
without the juice: an ounce of the orange liqueur topped with Champagne (less pulp
evidently). Or try the Typhoon (half ounces each of Gin and Sambuca, dash lime
juice, fill with Champagne), the Concorde (Cognac with dashes of apple or pineapple
juice, topped with Champagne), or a Golf Ball (equal parts Vodka and Champagne
topped with orange juice). You'll always have the option to put aside some of the Champagne
for drinking a capella while you are orchestrating everything else.
