Wine Cocktails - Sophisticated and Retro

It's December and your probably crazy busy with Christmas parties over the next few weeks.  If you're thinking about having a party yourself then why not consider these 'wine lover' cocktails?

Wine-based cocktails...This is where sommeliers and bar tenders get the chance to team up to create some exciting combinations.  For me, it's cool to see wine in a different light, where its 'part' of something as opposed to the main focal point.  More and more restaurants are incorporating wine-based cocktails, beer and sake into tasting menus in search of matches to take things over the edge.

'Virtually Venice'  (Sophisticated)

• 30ml Veneto inspired red (I'd recommend the 2007 Freeman 'Secco' from Hilltops in NSW)
• Freshly pulped raspberry (use 10)
• 30ml Dubonnet (a sweet wine-based aperitif)
• 30ml Armagnac
• Sugar syrup
• Prosecco sparkling wine

Method:  Thoroughly pulp raspberry, red wine, sugar syrup, dubonnet and armagnac. Add ice then shake and strain.  Slowly pour Prosecco in champagne flute over the pulped mixture. Garnish with one raspberry.

Would go well with:  Turkey and cranberry sauce, cured ham & olives, roasted pork with apple sauce.

Tell your friends:  The Freeman 'Secco' red is a blend of rondinella and corvina - these are the prized amarone grapes which are natives of the Veneto region in north-east Italy, but do well in Hilltops too.

Click here to buy a bottle of 2007 Freeman 'Secco' from Hilltops ($30 per bottle)

Click here to buy NV Serafini & Vidotto Bollicine di Prosecco from Veneto ($20 per bottle)

'Santa's Slay' (Sophisticated)

• 15ml campari
• 10ml ruby red grapfruit juice
• 45ml tanqueray gin
• 150ml dry rosé style Sparkling or Champagne (for the foam)  
• 20ml rose syrup (for the foam)
• 300ml egg whites (for the foam)

Method:  Muddle 1/3 ruby red grapefruit with a teaspoon of white sugar, add the campari and tanqueray, add ice, shake and double strain into a martini glass.  To make the foam you will need a cream whipper/soda syphon.. Add 300ml of egg whites, 150ml dry rosé sparkling and 20ml of rose syrup in a boston shaker.  Then add this to the soda syphon and charge.  I'd recommend charging it twice.  If you haven't got a syphon then not to worry, just use a mix master to blend the mix thoroughly.  Then you are set to layer the top of martini glass with the Rose emulsion.


Tell your friends: It's not from Champagne but it's French, dry and delicious. The NV Bouvet Rosé Excellence is a great value alternative, it is made in the Loire Valley from Cabernet Franc.  

Click here to buy a cream whipper/soda syphon (approx $95 each).
Click here to buy some NV Bouvet 'rosé excellence' brut  ($34 per bottle).

'Wet Your Whistle'  (Retro)

• 60ml Henriques & Henriques Madeira 'Monte Secco Extra Dry' 3 year old
• 1/2 fresh lime
• Dash bitters
• Soda water

Method:  Squeeze fresh lime over ice in highball glass.  Add dash bitters.  Fill half way with soda and then add 60ml Madeira. Add touch more soda..Stir with swizzle stick.

Would go well with with:  Smoked salmon with capers, fresh prawns with aioli, spring rolls with sweet chilli sauce.  If you want to give the Madeira a go by itself then serve it chilled - it would go great with christmas pudding or hard cheese with quince paste and crackers.

Tell your friends:  The island of Madeira is located west of Morocco in the Atlantic Ocean. It has become famous for its fortified wine, which is deliberately heated to replicate the sea voyages during the 'Age of Exploration', where intense movement and equatorial temperatures transformed the wine into Madeira (an accident that was meant to be!).

Recommended:  At the start of the evening to get the palate going.

Click here to buy some lip smacking Madeira for this great aperitif cocktail! ($26 per bottle)

'80s Wine Cooler'  (Retro)

• 30ml cointreau
• 30ml strawberry liqueur
• Riesling (I'd use something youthful, bone dry from the Eden Valley, South Australia)
• Macerated fruits (blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, mulberry).  Ideally you want to macerate the fruit in the cointreau and strawberry liqueur for 48 hours before using to intensify the flavours.

Method: Mix macerated fruits thoroughly and then in a white wine glass pour the Riesling over the macerated fruit mix.  If you like a bit of spritz then add some ice and soda.  Serve in a wine glass.

Recommended:  Making a pre-mix fruit maceration in bulk to save time.

As another option to keep the 'red' theme going, you might want to consider a sparkling shiraz at some point as it will also pair nicely with your turkey, ham and of course... the legendary pudding.  Stay tuned for more on this delicious drop!