By Joseph Temple

With winter in full swing, many of us simply cannot wait until that first backyard party or when the patio at our favorite restaurant finally opens its doors. Thinking about the warm sun beaming down sure makes you thirty for a cool and refreshing libation of the alcoholic variety. And if you’re tried of the same old drinks, why not experiment with some classic Champagne Cocktails that date back as far as the nineteenth century? Have a look below at six ideas that are sure to excite your palate as you prepare for that day when the snow finally melts.

Much like the famous Sherry Cobbler, its bubbly cousin also dates back to the mid-19^th century and is featured in the classic book The Bar-Tender’s Guide by Jerry Thomas.  Consisting of shaved ice and sparkling wine, the original recipe called for orange and lemon pieces to be used as a garnish. Topping it off with fresh berries, the cocktail is to be consumed with a straw, making it one very refreshing drink. Of course, there is plenty of room for creativity, whether it’s substituting crushed ice, adding mint leaves or choosing which berry goes on top!

Following the 1861 death of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s beloved husband, a period of deep mourning was felt all across England. In fact, it was so strong that some even resorted to adding black stout with champagne to symbolize their sorrow, thus resulting in the Black Velvet. Also named after Bismarck who was quite fond of them, it is a cocktail that has never really crossed the pond. However, in the book The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, David Embury writes, “The champagne cuts the heavy, syrupy consistency of the stout, and the stout takes the sharp, tart edge off the champagne. Each is the perfect complement of the other.”

Originally created by Felix Kir, a former mayor of Dijon, France, the original intent was to make a cocktail that would simply blow away any visiting dignitaries, who in a state of euphoria (mixed in with a healthy dose of inebriation) would easily succumb to his every demand. While the original Kir recipe used white wine mixed with a black-currant liqueur, the champagne version consists of framboise and lemon twists, giving it a more majestic taste.

Fans of Ernest Hemingway will appreciate this concoction, which shares the same name as the author’s 1932 book about Spanish bullfighting. In a collection of cocktail recipes published three years later, Hemingway instructs us to, “pour 1 jigger of absinthe into a champagne glass. Add iced Champagne until it attains the proper opalescent milkiness. Drink 3 to 5 of these slowly.” Supposedly created during his time on the Left Bank in the 1920s, the book also warns us that “after six of these cocktails, The Sun Also Rises.”

In an elaborate hoax that fooled nearly everyone, Adam Seger, then the restaurant director at the Seelbach Hotel in Lousiville, Kentucky (a hotel mentioned briefly in The Great Gatsby) claimed to have “discovered” a recipe that was supposedly created during the pre-Prohibition era. Legend had it that a New Orleans couple celebrating their honeymoon got their drinks mixed up, which caused the hotel’s bartender to experiment with different formulas, eventually leading to a legendary cocktail bearing the hotel’s name. Consisting of bubbles, bourbon and Peychaud’s bitters, this incredible tale was reprinted in several books until the fall of 2016 when Seger admitted that he made the whole thing up. But hey, don’t let the facts get in the way of a great story – or a great cocktail.

Named after the French 75-mm field gun that became a mainstay during World War I, this cocktail usually consists of gin, lemon juice, Cointreau, and chilled brut champagne that is then topped off with orange slices and maraschino cherries. And like many other drinks, the origin of the French 75 is clouded in mystery. While the original owner of Arnaud’s restaurant in New Orleans claims to have invented the cocktail, books from the same period also make mention of a “’75 Cocktail” or a “French 75.”

Sources:

DeGroff, Dale. The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks. Berekeley: Ten Speed Press, 2014.
Haigh, Ted. Vintage Spirits and Forgotten Cocktails. Beverly: Quarry Books, 2009.
Mariani, John F. Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink. London: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014.
Rathbun, A.J. Champagne Cocktails: 50 Cork-Popping Concoctions and Scintillating Sparklers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010.

You might also like:

 Loading ...

Question: I decant a lot of my wines. Never sure whether to put the stopper back into the top of the decanter after pouring out the bottle. Your thoughts?

Answer: I also decant most of my wines at home. Young whites and reds usually are helped from the aeration of the act of pouring itself and I leave the stopper out for even more exposure and help open the aromas. Particularly good for screw top closures to help get rid of any reductive issues that may show up initially in the wine. For older whites and reds the decanting is an important procedure to get a clean clear wine off the tartaric acid crystals or sediment that may have resulted from time in the bottle and freshen it up. Be careful. In those cases it is preferable not to aerate too much so put the stopper back in to avoid extra airing and the loss of the delicate bouquet. Stopper is also good protection if you are dining outdoors or there are any insects around. Use your own good judgment on the stopper based on how the wine is showing while you are decanting it.

You might also like:

 Loading ...

By Joseph Temple

Beginning in 1967 when over 60,000 fans paid an average ticket price of nine dollars to watch the Kansas City Chiefs face the Green Bay Packers in the first ever AFL-NFL World Championship Game, the Super Bowl has morphed from an experimental football endeavor pitting rival leagues against each other into a must-see extravaganza.  And over the decades as television screens have gotten bigger and bigger, so has this annual spectacle, which is watched in over 100 million American homes.  In fact, the festivities have become so huge that several petitions have been launched to make the following Monday a national holiday.

But how can you talk about the big game without mentioning the pivotal role that food plays?  After all, Super Bowl Sunday represents the second largest day for food consumption in the United States, second to only Thanksgiving.  As one author wrote, “Unlike Thanksgiving … it’s all about football and food.  Thanksgiving may go food, then football, but Super Bowl Sunday is simply eat food, watch football while you eat food, and then eat more food.”

So in honor of the big day, here’s a spin on ten classic dishes that no Super Bowl party can go without.  Enjoy!

1. Chili (for a spin on the classic, skip the habanero and add some spicy smoked sausage)

2. Pulled Pork Sandwiches (for something fun even the kids will like, try slow cooking pork in root beer)

3. Hamburgers (jazz up a traditional burger by making them into bite sized sliders – try different cheeses too like pepper jack or smoked Gouda for something special)

4. Pizza (for a crispy and smoky crust, grill your favorite pizza on the BBQ)

5. Bean Dip (for a healthier alternative, mix in some veggies like fire roasted corn and peppers)

6. Pigs in a Blanket (don’t limit yourself to tiny franks – see what your guests think of duck or chicken sausage)

7. Nachos (for a low carb option, replace tortilla chips with zucchini medallions)

8. Chicken Wings (for a more exotic flare, bake in a curry sauce and serve with a cool yogurt dip)

9. Meatballs (buns, sauce, cheese,
veggies…presto! A meatball sub bar!)

10. And of course, you can never go wrong with a football shaped cake and team themed cupcakes

You might also like:

 Loading ...

Question: Where on the wine label does it tell you whether or not oak has been used?

Answer: Good idea. Wish it was that simple. Usually it doesn’t tell you. There may be a specific word like unoaked or unwooded used – especially for chardonnay. There may be some helpful information on the back label including descriptors like crisp, fresh or vibrant that probably indicate no oak was used. Even those terms can be confusing though because say wines like Chablis Premier or Grand Cru are in that style but still may see some old oak barrels. It can be a difficult issue somewhat like the sugar one in a wine – though many producers now are providing more information about residual sugar on their back label. It really depends on the overall balance of the wine whether the oak or sugar seems prominent to you. Remember that new oak diminishes with bottle age. Best way is to smell and taste the wine for oak but you raise another good reason why I support ingredient labeling.

You might also like:

By Joseph Temple

For a country known more for its tequila and cervezas, you may be surprised to learn that Mexico also has a rich history when it comes to winemaking. Dating back to the early 16^th century when the first vines were planted in the New World, Mexican vintners have endured their fair share of peaks and valleys in order to produce some wines that have gained a very loyal following. And while their estimated annual output of 20 million liters is miniscule compared to their neighbors to the north, it appears that when it comes to quality, Mexico has clearly stepped up its game, moving beyond the watery grapes and poor vintages that were commonly associated with their nation. So to get you up to speed on the 25^th largest wine producer in the world, here are ten interesting facts. Gracias!

1. The first Mexican wines were produced in the early 1500s after Hernán Cortés and his fellow Spanish Conquistadors overthrew the Aztecs. Quickly going through their own supply, he ordered each colonist to plant a minimum of 1000 grapevines.

2. Casa Madero, the first winery in the Americas was established in 1597 in the town of Santa Maria de las Parras and is still in existence to this day.

3. Surpassing Spanish wines in terms of quality while facing stiff competition from France, King Philip II in 1595 ordered that all production stop immediately. After this edict, only the Jesuits and other religious sects made wine on Mexican soil for sacramental purposes.

4. In the early 20th century, a group of pacifist immigrants from Russia known as the Molokans arrived in Mexico after escaping the Czar. With their knowledge of agriculture, they were able to revitalize the country’s wine industry in the Guadalupe Valley, which came to a halt during the Mexican Revolution.

By Gabriel Flores Romero from Tecate, México (originally posted to Flickr as viñedos) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

5. Serious attempts to make quality wines again began during the 1980s using modern techniques and backed by Mexico’s National Viticulture Association.

By Marrovi (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

6. Today, Mexican wine is made in three main areas—in the Baja Peninsula, the states of Coahuila, Durango and Chihuahua that are south of Texas and New Mexico, and in the central states of Zacatecas, Aguascalientes, and Queretaro.

By Tomascastelazo (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

7. Of these three, the Baja Peninsula is where more than 90% of all Mexican wine is produced. Divided by the Sierra de Baja California mountain range, all vineyards in the peninsula are located west of these mountains where the climate is similar to the Mediterranean with the Pacific Ocean helping to cool the grapes.

By Jaime Sanchez Diaz (jsanchezd) [GFDL, CC-BY-SA-3.0 or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons

8. Along the Baja Peninsula, Guadalupe Valley is considered to be the Napa Valley of Mexico, being home to approximately half of the all the country’s wineries.

By Tomas Castelazo (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

9. Many of the grapes grown in Mexico are of either Spanish or French origin. These include syrah, cabernet sauvignon, malbec and chardonnay.

By Kjetil2006 (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

10. With no system of denominations of origin, all bottles simply need to be labeled “Product of Mexico.” (However, some may note the valley it was made in.) Also, the grapes listed may not be listed in the order in which they dominate the blend.

Sources:

MacNeil, Karen. The Wine Bible. New York: Workman Publishing, 2015.
Micallef. (2017, January 7). Wine Stories: Mexico’s Wine Renaissance. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Newton, James. Mexican Cookbook – Traditional Mexican Recipes: Recetas Mexicanas. Springwood EMedia, 2014.
Palmerlee, Danny. Baja California and Los Cabos. Oakland: Lonely Planet, 2007.

You might also like:

 Loading ...