Naked Vine One-Hitter: Bubbly Cocktails for Spring with Zonin Prosecco

Ladies and gentlemen, pardon the long winter hibernation. There’s a lot happening on the home front here at Vine HQ, which I’ll catch all y’all up on before too long.

In the meantime, however, the Wine Fairy dropped a bottle off at the door which, if you’ve been around here awhile, you’ll probably recognize: Zonin “Cuvee 1821” Prosecco Brut.

This particular sparkler’s shown up here from time to time over the years, and it’s a consistently solid performer, especially at an ~$13 price point. On its own, it’s is on the dry-but-fruity side. I found it had a gentle, blossomy nose of apples and pineapples. Green apple and lemon flavors on the palate are balanced with a touch of almond and a zippy acidity. The finish is fruity, with more of those pineapples lingering at the end.

Thankfully, spring is just around the corner – and Prosecco, while a year ‘round beverage, has a warm season flavor to me. This winter, I’ve been grooving on cocktail making – and with the bulk of this bottle to work with, I decided to try mixing up a couple of springtime drinks with the stuff I have around, using the Zonin as a base.

First off, there’s the good old Aperol Spritz, the warm weather champ which I’ve written about before:

3 oz. Prosecco 

2 oz. Aperol

1 oz. club soda

The classic sunshine beverage. Pour the Aperol into a wine glass filled with ice, top with Prosecco and top with the club soda. Garnish with an orange wheel. The sweet/bitter flavors play off each other in a particularly refreshing way.

Moving on a bit, there’s the breath of springtime that is the French 77.

2 oz. Prosecco

1 ½ oz. Gin

¾ oz. Elderflower liqueur (like St. Germain)

½ oz. lemon juice

Mix the gin, elderflower, and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into a coupe glass. Add the prosecco and a lemon twist. Drop the twist into the drink and enjoy the lovely fragrances.

Sticking with gin here, if you’re a fan of a Negroni, but you’re hoping for something with a little more sparkle, try this take – the Sbagliato (which means “bungled” in Italian)

1 ½ oz. sweet vermouth

1 ½ oz. Campari

1 ½ oz. Prosecco

In a rocks glass filled with ice, add the vermouth and Campari and stir. Add the Prosecco and stir again. Sip and enjoy.

Finally, if you’re a fan of aged rums, this riff on the Old Cuban is a crowdpleaser, especially on nights where the springtime temps can still drop:

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon water

1 ½ oz. dark rum

¾ oz. lime juice

1 ½ oz. Prosecco

Angostura bitters and a mint leaf for garnish

Combine the honey and water in a small glass bowl and microwave for 15 seconds. Stir to combine. Let cool.

Add the honey syrup, rum, and lime juice to a shaker with ice. Shake for 15-20 seconds. Strain into a martini or coupe glass. Top with Prosecco, then a dash of bitters and the mint leaf.

Enjoy!

Benham's Barrel-Finished Gin -- A Fascinating, Perplexing Spirit

We've been on a bit of a barrelling kick here in Vineland. We've done a couple of stories on bourbon-barrel aged wine -- and I've seen more and more beers marketed as "aged in barrels," usually whiskey or wine. A natural outgrowth, I expect, of the worldwide bourbon boom. After all, bourbon barrels can only be used once for whiskey, and all these old barrels gotta go somewhere. 

I'm certainly all for waste not-want not.

Inevitable, then, that this desire for upcycling old spirit storage would start to land in other reaches of the world of potent potables. I got to try a rather unique concoction recently -- one that still puzzles me a bit.

Gentle readers -- meet D. George Benham's Barrel Finished Gin.

I know -- that last word done threw you for a loop, didn't it? Gin -- that most aromatic of hard liquors, greeted immediately with a partisan facial expression, depending on the drinker's perspective. In all my travels, gin is the most divisive spirit, in my estimation. Personally, I'm in the "pro" category, but I'm usually a traditionalist when it comes to these -- Martinis, Negronis, summertime gin & tonics...you know the drill.

But the Benham's is a different animal altogether. From Graton Distillery in Sonoma, CA -- Benham's is made in the traditional gin fashion. If you're unfamiliar, gin starts out as most liquors do -- as a neutral, usually grain based spirit. Once there's a base spirit -- basically pure ethanol -- it is redistilled with a bunch of aromatics, usually based around juniper. Benham's includes other botanicals like buddha's hand, grains of paradise, galangal, meyer lemon, and others.

Benham has produced a relatively small-batch gin for some time, but this year -- they're rolling out their barrel-aged version. This version of the gin is aged for a period of time in used Zinfandel barrels, a varietal they landed on after trying several other varietal barrels.   “We experimented a lot. We used Pinot, Syrah, and even Chardonnay barrels. The Zinfandel barrels have the right spiciness that plays well with our local Northern California botanicals such as lemon,” explained Jeff Duckhorn, the master distiller of the product.

Now, aging gins on wood isn't exactly a new thing. The precursor to gin is a Dutch spirit called genever. There are two versions -- neue genever, which is clear and oude genever, which is aged on wood and -- I was informed -- is only consumed by older folk. When I first tried -- and enjoyed! -- it in Amsterdam at age 41, I was informed that I was now the "youngest Oude Genever fan in the Netherlands."

I sat down one evening with the Sweet Partner in Crime and some nosing glasses to give this a run. Our first reaction was universally positive. If you're a gin fan, you'll love the aromatics on this spirit. There's the juniper, lemon, and spice aromas that you'd expect, but with an undertone of freshly cut wood and some neat vanilla scents and flavors. We had it on a couple of rocks first and liked it -- but neither of us tends to take our gin straight like that.

I started cocktailing. I tried to make a martini with it, but the flavors weren't right. The crispness was somewhat lost. A gin and tonic was better -- but not mindblowing. I did a little research on aged gins -- there are a few others out there -- and some bartenders have subbed this gin into other cocktails in place of bourbon.

I made a Manhattan with it -- and it was certainly an interesting cocktail which I dubbed the Fort Lee, since it's Manhattan-adjacent. Found it to be good, but next to my normal recipe that I make with Bulleit Rye, it didn't measure up. I also tried it in a Negroni, and I didn't think the botanicals played well with the Campari. It ended up *really* bitter, which might be a positive for some drinkers.

Here's the thing. I like the gin. I would recommend this gin. I just don't know what I would do with the gin on a regular basis. Perhaps this would appeal more to someone who's more of a gin-on-the-rocks person than I am. Because it really is lovely to sip. If you have a gin aficianado in your circle and you can find a bottle of this, they'll probably appreciate it.

Benham's Barrel-Finished Gin retails for $42.99 for a fifth.

The Vine Gets Naked with G'Vine Floraison

A new sample of liquid goodness recently made its way across the threshold at Vine HQ -- a sample which was definitely a bit of a changeup for your Wine Guy’s palate. This representative from a family of potent potable not seen before in this space is an interesting twist on a common white liquor: G'Vine Floraison Gin.

Wine is my usual tipple, but I've been known to drift into the world of distilled spirits from time to time. I enjoy a good gin Martini (or even better, a Vesper...mmm....), but I've not gone on the deep dive into that world of spirits the same way I have with bourbon and rum. I was looking forward to trying this green-capped clear liquor.

The description of G'Vine (which I may also use as name of my upcoming mixtape with 50 Cent) proudly states that it's "generously infused with the vine flower as well as over 9 different botanicals." The tech sheet list of botanicals, minus the vine flower, is ten items long, so that's an accurate statement. But why do botanicals matter when it comes to gin? And what really *is* gin, anyway.

Gin in its present form was created in the 17^th century in the Netherlands. Dutch distillers had been creating a form of neutral spirit flavored with various berries and herbs since the 1500’s for medicinal purposes to treat ailments such as lumbago, kidney stones, and gout. A version for its current use came about in the late 1500’s, when it was known as jenever (yeh-NAY-ver).

English soldiers fighting in the Eighty Years War were given jenever before battle to calm their nerves, giving rise both to the term “Dutch Courage” and to the gin-drinking culture in England. Gin was used to mask the flavor of quinine in tonic water – as quinine was given to Dutch and English colonists in some parts of the world to prevent malaria. (Yes, your refreshing gin and tonic started as a form of disease prevention.)

Gin is generally distilled from either grains or grapes. The neutral spirit created from this process is then re-distilled with some sort of botanical, which imparts the bulk of the herbal flavors. Juniper berries are always the primary botanical (which is why some folks say that gin tastes “like a Christmas tree”), but any number of other flavors, including citrus peel, anise, and many others.

G'Vine Floraison, which is neither Dutch or English – instead hailing from the Cognac region of France -- belongs to the “distilled from grapes” category. In addition to juniper, G'Vine uses ugni blanc grapes, coriander, cassia bark (better known as cinnamon), licorice, cubeb berries (similar to black pepper), nutmeg, ginger, green cardamom, and lime.

What does this combination of flavors do, in this case? Honestly, I've never tasted anything like this version of gin before. I tried it both in a Martini and in a gin and tonic. This is easily the most aromatic gin that’s ever galloped across my taste buds. My typical gin selections are Hendrick’s and Bombay Sapphire, and neither comes close to matching the strength of the nose here.

Honestly I found the G’Vine almost overp

oweringly perfumey. At first sniff, I was interested, but the aroma quickly became too much when featured on its own in a martini. It was better in a gin and tonic. The bitter flavor of the tonic balanced out the perfume somewhat, but it was still a powerfully scented concoction. On the flipside, it's one of the smoothest gins I've ever tried. Many gins I’ve tried bite hard, but this one has little grip and next to no burn. If you find that the perfume scent is to your liking, it's very drinkable.

The best use I found for it was as a mixer. I had some gin in the back of the liquor cabinet that was given to me as a gift once upon a time. I always found the gift gin (which isn’t a brand that you’d likely run into around here) to be a little harsh and I'd gone through it very slowly. I mixed it 2-to-1 with the G'Vine Floraison and made another Martini. (Different day, kids. I’m not that much of a lush!) That worked. The G'Vine gave a nice little boost to the other flavors in the other gin and rounded off the bite. I found the result quite pleasant.

If I were going for a gin of my own at this point, I'd probably stick to my tried and true pair mentioned above -- but if you're a gin fan and you're looking for a new experience, or if you have some less expensive gin that could use a little dressing up, certainly consider at least giving this a run. G'Vine runs around $40 for a 750 ml.

[Vine note: yeah, I know that I wrote about this one before. But I liked my expansion, and I wanted to share it with you. Ain't I a peach?]

Naked Vine One-Hitter O' The Green (Part 3) -- G'Vine Floraison Gin

A bit of a changeup to conclude this little pre-St. Patrick's triple -- a representative from a family of potent potable not seen before in  these parts: G'Vine Floraison Gin.

While wine is my usual tipple, I've been known to drift over to the world of distilled spirits from time to time. I enjoy a good gin Martini (or even better, a Vesper...mmm....), but I've not gone on the deep dive into that world of spirits the same I have with bourbon and rum. I'm always up for trying something new, so I was looking forward to trying this green-capped clear liquor...

...that is, until I thought about what the reaction would be if I walked into a St. Patrick's Day party carrying a traditionally English beverage. My proudly Irish brother from another mother, The Wizard of Covington, would probably crack me upside the head with a bottle for denigrating the occasion so. However, as G'Vine is a French distillate (from the Cognac region) -- and since both the Irish and the French traditionally dislike the English, I might get a pass.

In any case, on to the liquor itself. The description of G'Vine says that it's "generously infused with the vine flower as well as over 9 different botanicals." The tech sheet list of botanicals, minus the vine flower, is ten items long, so that's an accurate statement. But why do the botanicals matter?

Gin, in case you didn't know, starts as a neutral spirit like vodka. It's generally distilled from either grains or grapes. G'Vine Floraison belongs to the latter category. The neutral spirit is then re-distilled with some sort of botanical, which imparts the majority of the flavor. Juniper berries are almost always the primary botanical. In the case we have here, in addition to juniper, G'Vine uses ugni blanc grapes, coriander, cassia bark (better known as cinnamon), licorice, cubeb berries (similar to black pepper), nutmeg, ginger, green cardamom, and lime.

What does that mean for this particular tipple? Honestly, I've never tasted anything like this before. I tried it a couple of different ways -- in a Martini and in a gin and tonic. I can say, honestly -- this is the most aromatic gin I've ever tried. It's almost overpoweringly perfumey. At first sniff, I was interested, but the aroma quickly became too much when it was featured on its own in a martini. I will say this for G'Vine -- it's one of the smoothest gins I've ever tried. Many gins bite hard, but this one has little grip and next to no burn. If that perfume scent is to your liking, it's very drinkable.

On its own, it was better in a gin and tonic. The bitter flavor of the tonic balanced out the perfume somewhat, but it was still a powerfully scented concoction.

The best use I found for it was as a mixer. I had some gin around that was given to me as a gift in the back of the liquor cabinet. I always found the gift gin to be a little harsh and I'd been going through it very slowly. I mixed it 2-1 with the G'Vine Floraison and made a Martini. That worked. The G'Vine gave a nice little boost to the other flavors in the other gin and rounded off the bite. I found it quite pleasant.

If I were going for a gin of my own at this point, I'd probably stick to my tried and true Bombay Sapphire or Hendrick's -- but if you're a gin fan and you're looking for a new experience, or if you have some less expensive gin that could use a little dressing up, certainly consider at least giving this a run. G'Vine runs around $40 for a 750 ml.