In Vino Veritas
There are a few fun things to do outdoors during winter in Canada: You can go ice-skating, visit the Light Festivals, or check out Christmas Markets to get into the holiday spirit. But nothing cures the long hours, gloomy skies, and chilly temperatures like sipping on a fancy cocktail. Being in quarantine for most of 2020, we have gotten creative with our wines and tried mixing them into crafty cocktails. Below are some recipes that passed the taste test (plus pictures for inspiration)!
For a warm and cozy cocktail to drink by the fireplace, check out Tom’s Mulled Pomegranate Warmer or Reya’s Red Wine Hot Chocolate. If you prefer a festive, bubbly cocktail, try Angela’s Champagne Cocktail or Kimia’s pink version of a “French 75.” For those of you who would rather escape the Canadian cold and sip a cocktail somewhere far away, try making Amy’s White Wine Mojito and imagine that you are vacationing in Cuba, or let your taste buds travel to Eastern Asia while sipping on Angela’s Umeshu cocktail!
Amy Lin:
White Wine Mojito
A spin on the classic Cuban favourite, the white wine mojito is refreshing and easy to make. All you need is a bottle of white wine, lime, fresh mint, simple syrup, sparkling water, and ice. Start by combining a couple of mint leaves and 1/4 of a lime into a glass, and muddle gently. Remove the lime wedge and add ice. Next, fill the glass with wine until it’s half full and add a couple splashes of sparkling water along with two teaspoons of simple syrup. A friend recently gifted me a bottle of Ceder’s Crisp (a distilled blend of juniper, cucumber and camomile) and I added a shot of it into the cocktail to enhance the flavour complexity. Mix well and garnish with a cucumber slice, lime, and fresh mint.
I would personally recommend a fruity white for this cocktail. I chose a bottle of the Petit Blanc from Le Vieux Pin, which boasts notes of lychee. This is a great sipping wine on its own so leftovers from your mixology session will not go to waste. Perfect for a little post-exam celebration. Put on some music and close your eyes — it almost tastes like a vacation.
Angela Gu:
Champagne Cocktail
There’s something inexplicably festive and fun with bubbles, and any sparkling wine will do for this easy cocktail. I used a Bottega Prosecco – it worked really well with the brightness of the lemon zest. This drink looks best in champagne flutes, but any shape will do. Mismatched glasses are just fine, there’s some charm in that.
To make this drink, you’ll need: sparkling wine, sugar cubes, Angostura bitters, and a lemon. You’ll need one sugar cube per drink. Place your sugar cubes on some surface, they don’t go in the glasses just yet. Dash a few drops of the bitters onto the sugar cubes. Now take your lemon, and remove generous strips of zest with as little pith as possible. Make lemon twists if you know how, don’t fret if you don’t. Pour the sparkling wine. Then drop the bitter-soaked sugar cubes into the glasses — this will make a very satisfying fizzle. Express the lemon zest over the glasses, and plop the strips in. Start sipping!
There will be quite a bit of undissolved sugar remaining at the bottom of the glass — this just invites a top-up with more wine. Go for it!
Umeshu Cocktail
Plum wine, also called umeshu, isn’t really wine, but it’s pretty yummy and can be used like vermouth, so I had to include it here. I wanted to try making a Plumdog Millionaire but couldn’t find lavender soda anywhere, so I ended up making a slight variation of this gingery cocktail instead. It calls for 4 parts vodka (I used Absolut), 1.5 parts plum wine (I used Gekkeikan), and 1 part lemon juice. Shake with ice. Strain into glasses. How much you pour will depend on how strong you want your drink to be. Top with ginger ale for a sweet and spicy concoction, or tonic water for a milder taste. Garnish with what you see fit: here, I made one version with lemon zest speared with dill; the other one is lemon zest with mint. I can see these flavours also working with smoked rosemary.
Reya Manerikar:
Red Wine Hot Chocolate
Red wine and chocolate: a classic combo. This fun recipe combines the two into a decadent drink that’s perfect for a chilly day.
Start by making your own hot chocolate (a pre-made mix would work too if you’re feeling lazy!). In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup of milk, 3 tbsp cocoa powder, 2 tbsp sugar, and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil on medium heat. Lower the heat. Add ¼ tsp of vanilla extract and 1 cup of a dry red wine, (I used an inexpensive Malbec) and gently warm to the desired temperature. Serve in your mug of choice. I chose to top mine with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cocoa powder, but you could also throw in some marshmallows.
Tom Russell:
Mulled Pomegranate Warmer
Mulled wine is a personal favourite of mine during the Christmas season, and I appreciate a recipe that aims to provide a new twist on it. To make this cocktail I used a recipe by Colleen Graham at thespruceats.com and made a few adjustments.
For the red wine, I recommend a full-bodied wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel or Syrah. For the pomegranate liqueur I used Pama, which is available at the LCBO for $29.95. The original recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar, but I do not recommend following that. I recommend using 1 cup of sugar and then adding some sugar at the end to tone down the acidity. I recommend 14 whole cloves and 5 cinnamon sticks (a bit more than the original recipe) in order to make the flavour more interesting and less dependent on sugar.
What Will You need?
You will need 2 (750 mL) bottles of red wine, 1 cup of Pomegranate Liqueur, 1 cup of sugar, 1 ¼ cup of water, ½ teaspoon of ground nutmeg, 14 whole cloves, 5 Cinnamon sticks, 4 sliced lemons, and 2 sliced oranges.
How do you make it?
Place a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Combine the Pomegranate liqueur, red wine, water, 1 cup of sugar, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon sticks. Stir until the sugar and nutmeg are dissolved. Next, add the lemon and orange slices. Simmer for 15 – 20 minutes and do not allow it to come to a boil. Add additional sugar to taste. Your aim should be to tone down the acidity. However, be careful because pomegranate liqueur is already very sweet. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Strain the mulled wine into a bowl through a fine-mesh strainer to remove all the fruits and spices. Pour the mulled wine back into the saucepan and put it over low heat to keep warm. Serve warm and enjoy!
Sawyer Peloso:
Red Wine Sangria
In these dark winter days, sometimes it is nice to have a fruity red wine cocktail that makes you think of brighter summer days. A red wine sangria is one such example of a drink that can have this effect on you. It also happens to be fairly simple to make.
The following recipe is for one glass of red wine sangria:
First add ½ an oz of lychee, and ½ an oz of cherry brandy. Lychee is low in alcohol content, very fruity and will positively contribute towards a sweet, fruity sangria. Next, add about 2 oz of orange juice, 2 oz of ginger ale, and 2 oz of cranberry juice. I like to have an infusion of different fruity flavours in my sangria which is why I add both orange juice and cranberry juice. After this, add a glass of pinot noir. I usually add about 3-4 oz of wine. A commonly used wine for sangrias is Garnacha. I personally buy the Castillo de Monseran Garnacha from the LCBO for $10.95. Garnacha is a grape grown in Spain. It is very similar to pinot noir. It pairs well with sangrias because it is medium bodied, it showcases fruity flavours and tends to have a crisp acidity that complements sangrias excellently. Once all these ingredients have been added, I would give the drink a good stir, as well as a taste in case you feel something more needs to be added. After this, add ice to your drink, and give it another stir for about 10 seconds. Lastly, add some garnish to your drink. I personally like to include berries, pineapples and oranges. The fruits added are generally a matter of preference. I like a mixture of a number of fruity tastes, and tend to add more versus less.
Last but not least, have a sip, and enjoy your drink!
Kimia Veisi Nezhad:
Pink 75
Pink 75 is inspired by a classic cocktail named “French 75”, but with a few fun twists. The ingredients of French 75 include Champagne, gin, lemon juice, and sugar. To make the Pink version, I switched Champagne for Sparkling Rose (I used Yellow Tail Sparkling Rose, which you can find at Loblaws or the LCBO). I also added some strawberry puree to the mix, and switched sugar for agave syrup (purchased from the Cocktail Emporium) to make it more nuanced. I also used the purple-coloured “Empress Gin” (purchased from the LCBO) to add a vibrant colour to the cocktail mix. The result is a delicate, light, and refreshing drink that would be perfect for brunch.
To make two glasses of Pink 75, you will need the following ingredients: a bottle of semi-dry sparkling rose, 2 shots of gin, half a dozen ripe strawberries, juice of a large lemon, one tablespoon of agave syrup, five ice cubes, and some edible flowers for garnish.
Begin by chopping the strawberries into small pieces. Add the strawberries and lemon juice to a cocktail shaker, and use a muddler to pulverize the mixture. Next, add the gin, agave syrup, and ice to the mixture and shake for 30 seconds. Pour the mixture through a filter into the glasses and top with chilled sparkling rose. Garnish with some edible flowers (ask your florist about which flowers to use). Enjoy!
Interested in reading more? Find In Vino Veritas’s top under $15 bottles here.
