Wine Cocktails
If you are like us, you love a good bottle of wine. Perhaps also like us, you really love a great cocktail. We couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate this month of Washington goodness than to give you some cocktails that have, you guessed it, wine in them! To pay homage to our home state, we are also including suggestions on what liquor to use when crafting these wine-y concoctions that you might just not have considered before.
Where to begin? We are of the mind that bubbly is always a good way to start the night. Why not a French 75? Made popular by the Stork Club in New York, this cocktail was named for the 75mm Howitzer that was used in WWI to shell the enemy. We are told that flying ace Raoul Lufbery is responsible for its creation, as he liked bubbly (he was half French, after all) but needed an extra kick to it. Must be all that adrenaline, eh? In any case, the drink was advertised as powerful, feeling like being hit by a shot from the Howitzer. The rest is history. A little gin, lemon, add some sparkle, and voila! Our suggestions? How about Voyager Gin (made by Pacific Distillery in Woodinville) and perhaps a little Cave B Sparkling (from Cave B in Quincy).
While that bottle of Cave B is open, how about an Absolutely Fabulous? This one is named for the British television show, so as you might surmise was created in London at a bar called Monte’s Club. It’s a lovely blend of sparkling, vodka and cranberry juice, and for a little Washington twist, use a little Wheat Vodka from Washington Distiller DryFly. It’s not British, but hey, we Yanks can have fun too…
The Crusta family is a collection of drinks, starting with the Brandy Crusta which was created in 1852 by a man named Joseph Santina. At the time, he worked a bar called the Jewel of the South, but later he owned the City Exchange on Gravier Street in New Orleans. Since its creation, a number of cocktails have been traced back to the Crusta as their origin. To that end, we give you the Cabernet Crusta, a version using Cabernet instead of Brandy. We snagged this one from the book, Wine Cocktails, by A.J. Rathbun. Our recipe is for two, so be thirsty or grab a friend to share in the tippling. There are so many Washington Cabernet’s to choose from, we will leave you to pick your favorite!
Ash Blonde isn’t just a color for hair anymore. This cocktail features Lillet Blanc, a smart little white wine apertif that goes in a myriad of drinks. (You can also find in in a Vesper which is one of our very favorites.) It’s just a touch sweet and a little citrusy, so this cocktail is perfect for a light dessert or when you really only want just one. A little word of advice, the sweet vermouth is just for a little color: don’t go overboard.
Named for the book that the creator of the cocktail was writing when he created it, a Death in the Afternoon probably won’t kill you, but it certainly packs a punch. Made with absinthe and a healthy dose of bubbly, it will make your afternoon more colorful to be sure. Hemingway wasn’t known to be stingy with the booze, and this cocktail is no exception. He apparently mixed it up while having a little boat trouble, and celebrated having it resolved with 4 or 5 of these. That’s a celebration if we’ve ever heard of one. Need a good absinthe? Pacific Distillery strikes again with their Pacifique Absinthe made in the traditional Montemarte (French) style.
Finally we get to our favorite (and a classic to boot) the Sangria. The name Sangria comes from the Spanish word sangre, meaning “blood”. Appropriate given the color, no? We couldn’t find the exact origins of this tasty treat, but it is most certainly from Spain. You can find thousands of variations of recipes for Sangria, we have given you the simplest one we could find that is also quite tasty. Perfect for those summer months when red wine just feels a bit heavy, this cocktail will give new life to that red you opened a couple days ago and need some inspiration to finish.
Recipes:
Sangria
1 oz cognac
2 oz red wine
½ oz Grand Marnier liqueur
2 oz fresh squeezed orange juice
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into an ice filled glass. Garnish
Death in the Afternoon
1 ½ oz absinthe
4 oz very, very cold champagne
Pour absinthe into champagne flute, top with champagne slowly until the absinthe clouds up.
French 75
¾ oz gin
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz simple syrup
Top with champagne or sparkling wine
Shake first three ingredients in a shaker and strain into champagne flute. Top with Champagne. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Vesper
1 oz vodka
3 oz gin
½ oz Lillet Blanc
Shake over ice in shaker, strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Ash Blonde
3 oz Lillet Blanc
1 oz Cointreau
¼ oz sweet vermouth
Shake all ingredients over ice, strain into chilled martini glass. Garnish with an orange twist.
Brandy Crusta
1 ½ oz brandy
½ oz Cointreau
½ oz lemon juice
½ oz maraschino liqueur
1 dash Angostura bitters
Shake all ingredients in shaker with ice and strain in to a wine glass rimmed with sugar. Garnish with lemon peel.
Cabernet Crusta (for two)
1 orange
3 oz Cabernet
1 oz Cointreau
½ oz orange juice
2 oz simple syrup
4 dashes Angostura bitters
Using a peeler, peel the orange in one continuous peel, avoiding the pith (white stuff) as much as possible. Cut the spiral in half, place a half in each glass.
Shake all remaining ingredients over ice in a shaker. pour into wine glasses. If you want to keep it cold, add a couple ice cubes to the wine glasses.
