As a “real” Dutchman, I am also involved in our favorite national popular number 1 sport; complain about the weather. It's never right; then too cold again, or the wind is terrible, it rains too much or it is way too hot… The latter applied at the time I wrote this article… (I thought The Netherlands was unpredictable but Chicago is even worse weather wise!!!)
On my front porch it is about 34ºC (94 Fahrenheit) in the shade, practically no wind and that provokes great thirst, at least by me. What shall I take? Nice cold beer? ... No, no beer. Let’s take a look in the fridge. There are still some opened bottles of white wine and I decide to make a cool drink. To give you some ideas on how to get through the hot summer months, see below for some refreshing mixed drinks based on wine. These can be used even when it is actually still too early on the day (or too hot) for a real glass of wine.
Of course I believe that you should drink wine “pure” and certainly not with a cube of ice in it! NO, no ladies, NO ICE in pure wine please!!! Anyway, the same also applies to a decent whiskey or cognac. Speaking of cognac by the way; almost everyone drinks cognac from a so-called “brandy glass”, you know, such a glass with a very big belly, from which it tapers. Real cognac drinkers know that such a glass is not at all suitable for drinking this tasty stuff and that is because of the following: One of the nice reasons to enjoy (a good) cognac is the smell (just like wine). If you take a glass as I described above, those tapered walls ensure that the scent concentrates at the top of the glass. And because cognac is a strong drink that usually meets 40 degrees of alcohol (80 proof), this alcohol rises and you smell…alcohol! Right! What a pity! Take some good advice from me and from now on pour it into a whiskey glass and you will see that your “cognac experience” becomes much more intense. Will you have to throw away your old cognac glasses? No, you can use these perfectly for the wine mixes that follow below ...
In the first place and perhaps the most consumed wine mix drink of the summer in Spain is the “Tinto de verano”. A delicious refreshing drink that consists of 50% red wine and 50% “Casera”. Casera is actually a brand name of a well-known soft drink manufacturer, but in the case of a tinto de verano they mean gaseosa here. (For the non-Spaniard; Gaseosa is a mix of diet 7-up with Club Soda.) Add lots of ice and a slice of lemon or lime and enjoy. Tinto de verano is also available ready-made in bottles, but these taste a bit too bland and too sweet in my opinion.
What I personally find more refreshing is a “Blanco de verano”, the same story as above but with white wine.
Then there is the very popular “Calimocho” in Spain. Coincidentally born when two “crooks” from the Basque Country who wanted to sell cheap tetra Brik wine that was really too awful to drink at beach parties, added cola to make the taste more pleasant. It turned out to be a good find because this drink is now a worldwide success. These two gentlemen both had nicknames. One “Kalimero” and the other “Motxo”, hence the name “Calimocho”. So it is 50% red wine and 50% cola. Other names now given to this drink in Spain are “Rioja libre”, “Mochete” or “Tincola”. In Uruguay it is called “Vino cortado”, in Brazil “Diesel”, in Mozambique “Catembe”, in Chile “Jote” or “Licor de ave”, in Argentina “Bardal” and in Romania “Carcalete”.
What I sometimes do when I have a white wine open that is actually over its top is fill a large jug with ice cubes and a layer of Blue Curaçao, fill it with the wine, add a slice of orange and let it cool down well before drinking it.
And if you are such a person which features with a complete home bar and/or richly stocked drinks stock, then you should try this:
-5cl. red reserva (wine)
-1cl. cocoa liqueur
-1cl. vanilla syrup
-1cl. add chocolate syrup
-crushed ice
Shake it in a cocktail mixer, pour in a decent cocktail glass, and decorate with chocolate sprinkles…
But if you're more into white wine you might prefer this:
-7cl. verdejo (which is a grape variety) wine
-2cl. white grape juice
-1cl. grapefruit juice (from a red grapefruit)
-1cl. lychee syrup
- crushed ice
Shake it in a cocktail mixer, serve in a martini glass and decorate with a sprig of mint (hierbabuena).
For the rosé lover there is also a variant:
-10 cl garnacha (which is also a grape variety) rosé
-3 cl honey or strawberry syrup
-1 cl lemon syrup
-0.5 cl Pacharan.
-crushed ice
Shake it in a cocktail mixer, pour it in a romantic glass and add some chopped strawberry pieces (they float in the drink).
Enjoy the summer!
Roel Peters RP-Vinos USA
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