Join Mary Ross in appreciating the cool summer wine cocktail
While our warm weather lasts, it's time to swap the fancy crystal and fine wine for stadium mugs and a cold frothy one. And if that includes wine, all the better!
Adding mineral water, juice and fruits to wine is nothing new. Ancient Romans liberally mixed wine into foodstuffs and water, not for flavor but for health. (We know now that wine fights bacterial infection and reduces carcinogens.)
Check for recipes online or join me at The Chopping Block to taste "Summery Wine Cocktails" (see information below). You'll see that wine cocktails are both good and good for you!
Hydrate with a spritzer. Hydration is essential to good health, never more than in summer. Alcohol is an excellent hot-weather tipple because it lowers body temperature. But alcohol is also a dehydrator; the more you drink, the thirstier you get, so the more you drink, with well-documented results. To prevent heat from sapping us of our vital bodily fluids (paraphrasing General Jack D. Ripper in the film "Dr. Strangelove"), reduce alcohol and increase hydration with a spritzer. It's easy: get a glass; any glass, even a stadium cup, will do. Add ice, wine and soda water to taste, and you're done. Choose a light, dry-ish to sweet style for wine, including riesling (such as Germany's Clean Slate, about $12), Pinot Grigio or chenin blanc. For a red Spritzer, try Beaujolais or Pinot Noir. Zhuzh it with a garnish of mint, berry kebab or citrus wheel.
Tip: As with all wine cocktails, avoid high alcohol (over 13%), high tannin (in dark reds) and oak. Caveat: A wine cocktail may seem innocent, but it's still alcohol. Eat before, during and after drinking and monitor your intake.
Waste not with sangria. What to do with an open bottle in the fridge after a day or two? Upcycle your gently used wine into sangria. Your essential ingredient is time. Macerate hard fruits (such as apples) in light red wine (such as Spanish Rioja Crianza) overnight; firm berries at least four hours; soft fruit (nectarines, strawberries) at least one hour. Chill your container, glassware, ingredients and utensils two or more hours before serving. If your plans don't include sangria, make ice cubes from that open bottle for later use. Tip: If time doesn't allow overnight maceration, try the premixed De La Costa Sangria, produced by Chicago's Glunz family, available just about everywhere, under $15 per liter bottle.
Practice gratitude with the Kir and French 75. In the U.S., we name expressways and airports after our fallen heroes. In France, they're immortalized with cocktails. The French 75 mm field gun is considered the first modern artillery piece and is often credited with France's victory in World War I. Its eponymous drink - the Soixante Quinze or French 75 - developed through the 1920s to include gin, Champagne, lemon juice and sugar, packing the same wallop as its namesake. Tips: Shake ingredients for at least 10 long seconds to suspend ice throughout the drink. If Champagne is out of the budget, use an excellent bubbly such as Gruet Brut (USA), under $20.
During World War II, Felix Kir was a leader in the French Resistance, aiding in the escape of 5,000 prisoners of war. Postwar, his Burgundian homeland renamed the blanc-cassis - a traditional drink made from local wine with local blackcurrant liqueur - forever known as the Kir or Kir cocktail. Because German invaders in retreat pinched the bulk of the region's famed wine, the Kir stretched what little remained and was a widespread hit. The original wine was Aligoté; in our market, it's hard to find and expensive. Use instead another Burgundian white such as Macon-Villages (a recommended producer is Louis Jadot, about $15). Tip: Ask your merchant to recommend their finest Crème de Cassis. Zhuzh it with a Kir Royale by substituting Cremant de Bourgogne (Burgundy's bubbly) or Gruet Brut for still wine.
To sip and discuss these four cocktails, plus the frosè and the Half-and-Half, all complemented by cocktail-friendly noshes, join me at The Chopping Block (4747 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago) for "Summery Wine Cocktails" from 6-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 6, To register, visit Summery Wine Cocktails (thechoppingblock.getoccasion.com/).
• Mary Ross is an Advanced Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers), a Certified Wine Educator (Society of Wine Educators) and recipient of the Wine Spectator's "Grand Award of Excellence." Write to her at food@dailyherald.com.