Consumers are Craving Wine Cocktails in 2017
Jan. 30, 2017
While trends come and go, it seems wine cocktails are holding strong in the new year. Breakthru Beverage sat down with our Beverage Development Specialist Mike Page to talk about the trend, where it came from and how to capitalize on it, plus several wine cocktails to experiment with.
Why are wine cocktails – particularly red wine cocktails – trendy?
Everything that we [as bartenders] do always gets diluted. Usually water is the choice of what we dilute things with, and it’s already in all of the spirits. But water lacks flavor and it lacks body, and those are two of the biggest things that wine can bring to the table. And particularly with red wine, it will give you tannins. We always think of bitter, sour, sweet [when making a cocktail], and in that sour range, there are all types of sour. That tannic bitterness or sour, that’s a whole new sort of feel when you’re drinking a cocktail.
Wine and spirits may not seem like the most obvious pairing, but yet wine cocktails are delicious. Why is that?
Keep in mind that [mixing wine and spirits] is something people have been doing for a long time. For example, sangria. A lot of times it would be things like cheaper wines or ingredients that people wanted to find a way to make taste better. Again, it’s been done for a long time, but recently people are approaching it in a more craft-like way, rather than a punch format.
For a red wine cocktail, is there a specific varietal that should be used or avoided?
It definitely depends on what you’re making and also what you want to get out of it. If you’re thinking of Bordeaux-style wines – referring to the grape, so like merlot and cabernet – those are going to be more full-bodied, drier, definitely more tannic and will have a lot more exposure to oak as well. Whereas you might use a Grenache or a Shiraz if you wanted to push that fruit [flavor] a little bit more, and maybe still get a little bit of that earthiness, but not so overpowering or so big. Or one might choose a rich California Chardonnay to add a touch of creaminess, or a Sauvignon Blanc for apple and pear notes. Small little nuances can really change the flavor. Pinot Noir tends to get a little washed out, but that’s not to say there isn’t a use for it – you’d have to be looking specifically for that style. It also depends on which spirit you choose, for example, if you pick a big whiskey, you’re going to need something to stand up to that. But if you’re doing something a little more delicate, then you might switch it up a little bit.
What are the components you have to have to make a successful wine cocktail?
It’s not too dissimilar to what [bartenders] would normally look for in any cocktail. There definitely has to be some type of balance to it; there have to be some flavor affinities going on. Looking at balance – [if you’re using wine,] there’s already a good amount of acidity going in, so you might not need to add as much. However, you still might want a little bit [of acidity] to balance it out – especially if you’re using a liqueur that has a little bit of sweetness to it. Balance is usually the name of the game. But also, thinking about what will go well with your ingredients, and how you want to play off of those different styles. Essentially [wine] is just another ingredient from a bartender’s perspective.
Any favorite wine cocktails of yours?
Definitely the New York Sour. I also like to do a very similar cocktail, but with gin. It comes out really neat and it’s one that I don’t always think of as being the obvious pairing. But if you think about gin and vermouth – which are the components of a Martinez – vermouth is a red wine, and that’s a classic cocktail. It really does have the affinity there, you just don’t think about it offhand.
How do you go about being innovative when creating a cocktail?
The most important thing to remember is that there’s almost nothing that hasn’t been tried before. While you might be flexing your creative muscles and trying to come up with something new, you’re going to run into the fact that someone has most likely tried that somewhere before. Whether that be the same two flavors together, or someone across the world who has the exact same cocktail on their menu and you’ve never even met each other before – I’ve seen that happen. Or maybe a cocktail that’s just a quarter ounce difference on some of the ingredients, but they’ll be combinations I’ve seen before or made a cocktail with. But ultimately, that lets you know that you’re on the right track. Because if you’re doing what other people are doing then that means something is falling into the right place.
