How to Create Wine Cocktails

HOW TO CREATE WINE

COCKTAILS Photos courtesy of Tesse Restaurant

WHEN YOU THINK OF WINE, YOU OFTEN THINK OF JUST POURING A GLASS AND CALLING IT A DAY. HOWEVER, WINE MAKES A BRILLIANT BASE IN MANY COCKTAILS. BALANCING WINE’S FLAVOR PROFILE IN COCKTAILS IS SIMILAR TO MIXING WITH SPIRITS. BARTENDER KINGSTON CHAN HAS PERFECTED USING WINE IN COCKTAILS THROUGHOUT HIS CAREER. “BY UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURE OF WINE, IT’S MADE ME AN EXTREMELY BETTER BARTENDER WHO ISN’T AFRAID TO PUSH THE LIMITS.”

Wanting to break wine’s just-for-sipping image, Chan notes, “Wine comes from unique grape or fruit varietals from all over the world, and each esoteric ingredient brings something exciting to the craft cocktail realm for us to ponder upon.” Wine will always have a sophistication about it, but after all, it’s far too complex and versatile to drink simply on its own. Check out these easy tips to include wine in your next cocktail.

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3

CHOOSE YOUR WINE. Red and orange wines have a similar bitter taste to black tea, while white wines are naturally tart and floral. Sparkling wines give an overall fun vibe and offer a fizzy sensation to the cocktail. Aperitivo’s bring a unique distillation process and can enhance the drinking experience. Consider your other ingredients, then choose a wine that will complement these flavors. PAIR YOUR FLAVORS. “I remind myself constantly that wine nuances pair nicely with other sensory tastes, such as floral, umami, sweet, pungency, spices, bitterness, creamy, etc.” Getting to know the terroir, culture, and history behind the wine you’re using will help you decide what to use and how to use it. Adding sparkling, still, dry, or sweet wine to your drink adds a new layer of complexity. BUILD YOUR COCKTAIL. From a base to a float or even a syrup, wine in cocktails brings that extra something. Plus, it’s no secret that beautiful cocktails tend to be eye-catchers, so get creative with the appearance. “Layered wine cocktails are so gorgeous in both live dining presentations and are appealing for both social media and marketing purposes.”

HERSour

INGREDIENTS

1 oz. Barr Hill Honey Gin 1 oz. Marie Brizard No.17 Yuzu Liqueur 1/2 oz. Lillet Blanc 1/2 oz. raw honey syrup 3/4 oz. fresh Meyer lemon juice 2 dashes of acid phosphate .1 barspoon of 10% soy lecithin solution* or 3/4 oz. egg white (for non-vegans) 2 jasmine flowers with leaves 2 unpitted/disassembled lychees 2 dashes Angostura bitters 1/2 oz. Nebbiolo Wine float

PREPARATION

Pit two lychee fruits. Place the lychee flesh in shaker along with jasmine flowers and leaves. Place all other ingredients into shaker except the Nebbiolo Wine. Dry shake long and hard for 30 seconds to 1 minute until soy lecithin solution or egg whites are emulsified. Add ice (I recommend Penny Pound Ice Kold Draft) to tin. Shake long and hard for 15 seconds and double strain into a coupe or Nick & Norah glassware. Slowly pour Nebbiolo Wine on top of a bar spoon for float and contrast. Garnish with jasmine flowers, cut up lychee blossom, and Meyer lemon twist. *Soy lecithin solution: add 1 1/2 tsp soy lecithin granules to 1/2 cup boiling Artesian water.

KINGSTON CHAN

Kingston Chan is a Los Angelesbased bartender at Tesse Restaurant in West Hollywood, Shenanigans Pub & Grille in Long Beach, and Arts District Brewing Company in Downtown LA. He has learned techniques for making extraordinary cocktails from some of the best in the Los Angeles bar industry, like using clear hand-made artisan ice, freshsqueezed fruit juices and syrups, and gastromolecular mixology.

TIP

Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. “The world is full of endless possibilities if we let our imaginations run wild.”

PRO TIP

Using Barolo wine (high in acid and tannins, produced in the Piedmont region of Italy, with brick red hue) to create cocktails can give the drink an overall full-bodied feel. The grape varietals are grown near volcanic ash, so it has a dry, umami mouthfeel.