Category: Drink

Get to know claret

The Wine Lover’s Companion, a compilation of “nearly 4,000 wine-related terms,” defines claret as a term used by the English when referring to the red wines from Bordeaux. It’s derived from the French clairet, which refers to a Bordeaux wine with a style somewhere between a red and a rosé, or a light refreshing young wine. It originated in the Middle Ages when, as a dark rosé, spices were added to increase its complexity. “Claret” continues to appear on some labels, but to the French it has no legal definition.

Claret is known as a name for sweet, red wine sauce, poured upon spumoni or ice cream. August Escoffier, the noted 19th- and early 20th-century French chef and cookbook author who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods, created a cocktail called the Claret Cup, a concoction of red wine, sugar, oranges, lemons, cucumber peel and brandy; something to warm you on a cold winter’s day.

Times and tastes change, and today a claret is known as a blend that favors the way Bordeaux are composed, that is with a base of merlot or cabernet sauvignon, with additions of cabernet franc and petit verdot, but today’s blends are not limited to just those varietals.

Our first claret, the 2018 Francis Ford Coppola Winery Diamond Collection Black Label Claret (priced at $19.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets), is a true Bordeaux blend of cabernet sauvignon, petit verdot, malbec and cabernet franc. Presented in a dark bottle with gold netting, this wine is the flagship of the Coppola Diamond Collection. The inspiration for this wine came from a bottle of 1906 claret found in the cellar of a Napa Valley property purchased by Coppola in 1975. While not fully understanding the origin of the term “claret,” Coppola liked the word because it implied something clear and pure; however, he was discouraged at first from using the term because Americans wouldn’t know what it meant.

The wine has a nose of dark cherries, and, to the tongue, berries, plum and anise emerge, accompanied by smooth tannins. As a blend, this wine varies from vintage to vintage, made from grapes that are grown across California to Oregon. The 2018 vintage is predominantly based on Napa Valley-farmed cabernet sauvignon grapes and has an alcoholic content of 13.9 percent.

Our second claret, the 2017 Ramey Wine Cellars Claret (priced at $46.99 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets), is a blend of 44 percent cabernet sauvignon, 20 percent merlot, 14 percent malbec, 12 percent petit verdot, 8 percent syrah and 2 percent cabernet franc. Ramey Wine Cellars is located just off the square of downtown Healdsburg, California. The dream of David and Carla Ramey, the winery seeks to produce wines of the highest quality, sourcing their grapes from vineyards with which they have worked for many years. This claret follows the Bordelaise model of blending the different Bordeaux varietals, with fermentation occurring in the barrel and the blend assembled early so it is “elevated” as the finished wine. This claret rested on its lees 12 months in French and American oak barrels, of which only 24 percent were new. The wine was then lightly fined with egg whites and bottled without filtration and released in March 2020. Alcohol content is 14.5 percent.

Robert Parker gave this wine a score of 92 points, deservedly, given its highly structured notes of dark chocolate-covered cherries and tobacco, derived from the time spent on oak. It has a medium-bodied, plush feel to the tongue, with an exceptionally long finish.

These two wines, from opposite ends of the spectrum, are both called clarets, a moniker we discovered that evolved from the Middle Ages to today’s blends. They are examples of the wide diversity of wine structure, body and taste that can be experienced from attention given to the detail of blending certain varietals, coupled with divergent methods of production.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

So, you know how every three or four months you go through your pantry and get rid of all the food that you forgot about, which has expired?

Actually, you know what? We’ve known each other a while now, and this is a safe space. We can be honest with each other. It’s been at least a year and a half since you looked at the back of any of those shelves, hasn’t it?

It’s OK — no judgment. In fact, it sort of advances my point for me.

Anyway, you know how, when you finally get around to cleaning out the whole pantry, and take everything off all of the shelves, you find yourself looking at some exotic ingredients you barely even remember buying?

You must have had some recipe that called for lotus root, but seriously, when have you ever even considered using bee pollen? And that tin of smoked octopus? What were you thinking?

You know that feeling?

That’s an emotional road map to my liquor cabinet. I’ve got a truly distressing number of tiny sample bottles of liquor I totally meant to use in something, someday. Even worse are the almost full bottles of exotic liqueurs that are missing just that ounce or two that I used in that one cocktail that one time and then—

And then, what?

I’m not sure. Things get a little fuzzy when I think about it too much.

Anyway, this is all to scaffold my explanation for why, when I found a drink recipe I wanted to try and it called for a blackberry liqueur called créme de mûre, I balked at hunting down a bottle of it. Even if I was able to find a bottle of it, and it wasn’t too expensive, and it tasted good, when would I ever use it again?

Oh, yeah, right — like I could serve lemonade to guests next summer, and say with a straight face, “Oh, that? Do you like it? It’s créme de mûre. Remind me to get you some.”

I don’t know who could pull that off — somebody in loafers and a yachting cap, probably — but not me.

Anyway, I ended up making some blackberry syrup (see below) and figured that a small amount of it with a small amount of good vodka would probably make a decent substitute.

And it did. The drink was fine, just a little flat. It needed some acid, so I added some lemon juice, and it was better, then some more lemon juice and it was even better. At that point I realized that the bourbon in the recipe was distracting from the really good stuff — the little dance that the lemon and blackberry were doing—

And that’s how we ended up here:

Lemon 2 the Rescue

Ingredients

• 2 ounces nice vodka — this is another one of those times when you’ll want to avoid any harshness from the bottom-shelf stuff
• 1 ounce homemade blackberry syrup (see below)
• 2 ounces fresh squeezed lemon juice

Shake all three ingredients with ice.

Strain into a coupé glass.

Congratulate yourself on being so clever

On first sip, this tastes a bit sweet. You ask yourself if perhaps it could be a little less sweet, but then, like a woman on a horse in gleaming armor (A point of clarification: The woman is the one in the armor, not the horse), the lemon comes thundering to the rescue and lets your palate know that “Shh — everything is alright; let me handle this.” And then she does.

It’s another good omen. We’re going to get through this.

Blackberry syrup

In a small saucepan, bring equal amounts (by weight) of frozen blackberries and white sugar to a boil. Stir frequently, and if you’ve got one, it wouldn’t hurt to hit the berries with a potato masher at some point. Let the mixture boil for a few seconds to make sure that all the sugar is dissolved, then remove from heat. Strain everything through a fine-meshed metal strainer, and allow it to cool, then bottle it, label it, and store it in the refrigerator for a month or more.

Featured photo: Lemon 2 the Rescue. Photo by John Fladd.

Take the beer less tasted

When someone asks me what kind of beer I like, I usually say something along the lines of, “I drink everything but I primarily gravitate to stouts and IPAs.”

That’s more or less accurate. I love stouts and IPAs and at the same time I’m happy with Pilsners and brown ales and sours and so on and so forth.

Still, it’s easy for me to get stuck on stouts and IPAs — now more than ever — as there has never been a greater variety and quantity of both styles available to us from craft brewers. Plus, they taste really, really good.

But one of my goals for the new year is to find more opportunities to step outside my comfort zone to explore not only a wider variety of styles, but beers that are especially unique.

There’s so much great beer easily accessible and I don’t want to close myself off to anything. I feel like we’re in this together.We might need to hold each other’s feet to the fire. Sure, we’re not going to like everything we try, and that’s OK, but you must be at least somewhat bored with trying yet another variation on the IPA featuring the newest, most exciting hop strain? Don’t worry, IPAs aren’t going anywhere.

Let’s keep an open mind and let’s dive in. Here are five unique New Hampshire brews I’m looking to seek out in 2022.

Razzmatazz Raspberry Wheat Ale by Throwback Brewery (North Hampton)

The description says “spicy and fruity,” and it features “aromas of raspberry sugar cookies,” and honestly, it scares me a little. But I like that it’s got a little zip with an ABV of 7.4 percent and that the brewer notes flavors of “bitter berry, currants and sweet caramel malt.” You start mulling this over, and how is this not an intriguing brew? (The brewery has a Raspberry IPA that fascinates me as well.)

Cranberry Wit by Great North Aleworks (Manchester)

The brewery says this slightly tart Belgian-style witbier is brewed with orange, coriander and cranberry. This sounds refreshing, exciting, not at all over-the-top and perfectly seasonally appropriate.

Spit Fire Joy Juice: Maple Smoked Peach Sour Collaboration by 603 Brewery (Londonderry) and Able Ebenezer Brewing Co. (Merrimack)

What a fascinating beer! This is just so interesting bringing together sweet maple smokiness and the tang of peaches. I feel like the smoke would add some balance and provide some depth to what sounds like a very sweet brew. This screams complex.

Bubblewrap by Loaded Question Brewing (Portsmouth)

This Belgian “singel” is brewed with “bitter orange peel,” Willamette hops and Belgian ale yeast. What I’m expecting is a light, refreshing Pilsner-like brew featuring some acidity and some fruitiness from the orange peel. I can’t wait to try this.

Monadbock by Granite Roots Brewing (Troy)

OK, this isn’t a brew that I would classify as especially unique or innovative. Based on the description, it sounds like this is about as traditional as it gets. Beyond looking for unique beers, I also want to revisit more traditional styles. The brewery says this amber bock “boasts rich malty caramel and fresh baked bread,” and honestly, how could that not be good? Sometimes, we get so excited about all the experimenting brewers are doing these days, that we, or at least I, forget what made us enjoy beer in the first place. I’m thinking this brew might be a good, delicious reminder.

What’s in My Fridge

On the Gogh by Breakaway Beerworks (Manchester) Yes, I’m trying to step away from IPAs, but before I do, I enjoyed this unfiltered, dry-hopped IPA that boasts big tropical fruit flavor and a little spiciness. This was quite nice and one I would recommend tracking down. Don’t let the spice scare you; it’s not overpowering and instead helps balance out the bold citrus flavors. Cheers!

Featured photo: Razzmatazz Raspberry Wheat Ale by Throwback Brewery in North Hampton. Courtesy photo.

For a variety of complicated, therapy-inducing reasons, we spent Christmas in 1974 with my mother’s twin sister and her family in southern California. I was 10 years old and my cousins were all teenagers, so everything that they did filled me with wonder and awe.

Like, when my cousin’s boyfriend showed me how to use my new magenta gas-powered airplane — not a remote-controlled one, but one of the ones that was controlled by nylon strings connected to the fuselage. He got the engine started and I watched in wide-eyed amazement as he got it airborne, circled it around us twice, then plowed it, nose first, into a parking lot. Clearly, the guy knew what he was doing, so I dutifully packed up all the pieces, brought them back home with me, and checked in on them dutifully every month or so for years.

Or when another cousin elbowed me firmly in the stomach and I found that I couldn’t breathe.

“It’s OK,” he said to me, “you’ve just got the wind knocked out of you.” His use of the passive voice terrified me, because it implied that this was something that just happened randomly – that you could be walking around, living your life, and suddenly discovering that you couldn’t breathe. My uncle confirmed that yes, I had indeed just had the wind knocked out of me, and that I’d be fine. After 25 minutes or so (OK, it was probably more like 15 seconds) I discovered that I could take tiny breaths, then slightly bigger ones, and could finally look a little less like a blobfish in a Shaun Cassidy haircut, gasping on a pier.

But for me, the best memory of the holidays that year was New Year’s Eve.

The adults all dressed up and went out to some unimaginably sophisticated grown-up party, leaving me in the care of the teenagers. My youngest cousin, who must have been around 16, watched old movies on TV with me all night; then, at midnight, we went outside and honked the car horn to ring in the new year. Afterward we came in and ate buttered noodles.

It was far and away the best New Year’s Eve of my life.

Grown-up New Year’s Eves have been less magical.

Take Champagne, for example. I realize that I have the taste buds of a rhinoceros, but cheap and moderately priced Champagne can best be summed up in a quote from Fozzie Bear in 1981’s The Great Muppet Caper: “You know, if you put enough sugar in this stuff, it tastes just like ginger ale!”

So, here’s the thing: I get it. New Year’s is largely an adult holiday, where adults gather with other adults and celebrate how adult they are, talking about adult things — dental plans and conspiracy theories, mostly — and drink the most adulty drink they can think of, Champagne. But unless you are a supermodel or a guy with a yacht, most of us never really develop a taste for the stuff.

Is there an alternative?

Yes. Yes, there is.

The Manhattan

Ingredients

• 1½ ounces rye or bourbon. This week I’m using Bulleit Rye. (I’ve recently discovered that I like rye. Who knew?)
• 1½ ounces sweet vermouth — the red kind
• 10 drops cardamom bitters
• 10 drops orange bitters
• 1 cocktail cherry, the fanciest you can find. I like Luxardo.

Add all ingredients to ice in a mixing glass. Stir gently. This is one of those martini-like situations, where you probably wouldn’t like the result if you shook it in a cocktail shaker. This will have a cleaner, more vibrant flavor if it isn’t aerated.

Pour into a rocks glass. Sip gently. A Manhattan is not a drink that lends itself to drinking quickly. You’ll want to — actually, who am I to say what you want? You will probably be happier with your Manhattan experience if you drink it a little at a time, trying to identify the different elements that you can taste.

Grown-up/shmown-up; the best part is finishing this drink and eating the cherry. Don’t let anyone try to tell you different.

So, are there drinks out there that are more adult? Probably. At this moment, there’s almost certainly some guy working his way through a bottle of scotch, while the bar owner says, “Hey Mr. A-Bailey, why you so a-sad? Go a-home to you wife, huh?” Or maybe that’s It’s a Wonderful Life; at this time of year it’s hard to tell the difference between melodrama and real life.

Anyway, there are probably other drinks as adult as a properly constructed Manhattan, but very few that are as enjoyable. It is sweet, but not too sweet — that’s what the bitters are there for — and boozy enough to let you know it means business. There is a mixture of flavors that will distract from any boring adult conversation you find yourself in.

Keep your chin up; we’ve got this.

Featured photo: The Manhattan. Photo by John Fladd

Sweet wines for holiday giving and drinking

The holiday season provides us with the opportunity to exchange gifts with those who mean so much to us. Therefore, this time of year with feasting on savory and sweets alike, why not select that bottle to pair with fruit, or cheese, or with a sweet dessert? Past the bottles of chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon, past the bottles of pinot grigio there lie countless options available to us. Pick out a bright sparkling sweet wine, or a “fizzy” red wine. Try a wine normally reserved for cooking or try a truly luxurious sauternes from Bordeaux. Whatever your choice, you will be rewarded with a wonderfully new experience.

Our first wine is a classic. Martini & Rossi Asti Sparkling Wine (originally priced at $14.99, and reduced to $9.95 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets) is a label familiar to many. A couple of decades ago we were pummeled with TV ads for Asti Spumante. In late 1993 Asti Spumante was promoted to the top-level DOCG classification, at which point the “spumante” was officially dropped, resulting in the same great and inexpensive wine with a much shorter name. This wine comes from the Piedmont region of Italy and is made from the moscato bianco grape. It is produced by cold fermentation under pressure and is created to be enjoyed immediately. This is a slightly sweet, bubbly wine with notes of peach with some herbs that transform on the palate to pear and tropical pineapple notes. As a very approachable wine that is low in alcohol, it appeals to those who are just being introduced to wine.

Our second wine is another classic. Roscato Provincia Di Pavia Rosso Dolce (originally priced at $12.99, and reduced to $8.95 at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets) is a delicately sweet and gently fizzy red wine from the northern Italian region of Lombardy. Made from three grape varieties — croatine, teroldego and lagrein — this is a slightly sweet wine that can also be paired to entrees such as classic tomato-based Italian dishes. However, this chameleon of a wine can also be paired to cheeses or just sipped when slightly chilled. It has notes of raspberries and cherries.

Our third wine is frequently thought of as reserved for cooking. Colombo Sweet Marsala Wine ($10.99, and available at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets) is a hidden wonder. Marsala is a Sicilian wine, fortified, with a spectrum of sweetness, conditioned on the preferences of the region and winemaker. Marsala grew in popularity at the time when the British were becoming invested monetarily and in taste in fortified wines such as sherry and port. While its popularity has waned over the last century, it can be savored in front of the fireplace with its dark amber color, and hints of dates and apricots. It is full, warm and satisfying to the palate, a wonderful wine to be sipped after dinner.

Our fourth and fifth wines are luxurious sauternes. The 2016 Michel Lynch Prestige Sauternes ($19.99 for a 375 ml bottle, and available at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets) is liquid silk in a small bottle. Also available in New Hampshire is another sweet sauternes – Château Guiraud Sauternes 1er Cru Classé (originally priced at $27.99, and reduced to $24.99 for a 375 ml bottle at the New Hampshire Liquor & Wine Outlets). Why are two sauternes noted in this column? The answer is simple: The state stores do not inventory a wide selection of these cherished rare wines. These aromatic wines are produced from semillon grapes that are botrytized. When conditions are just right, nature can hold a usually nasty fungus in such check that something special happens. Instead of destroying a crop, the fungus creates grapes with incredibly concentrated flavor that can make some of the world’s sweetest, most precious wines. Botrytis cinerea is more affectionately known as “noble rot.” It’s the same kind of rot that spoils strawberries and soft fruit with greyish fuzz. So what makes this mold noble? A fine balance of moisture, sunlight and temperature. Ripe, healthy grapes must still be on the vine as fall begins, when misty mornings provide the moisture that the fungus needs to thrive. The fungus pierces the grape’s skin to feast on its juice, but after a few hours, sunshine and otherwise dry conditions follow to evaporate the moisture and stop the fungus in its tracks.

Try these alternatives to the all-too-familiar wines. The experience will be rewarding.

Featured photo: Courtesy photo.

’Tis the season for holiday beers

I used to be obsessed with holiday brews. As in, there wasn’t enough holiday beer in the world to satisfy me.

There was just something about the slightly sweet, slightly spicy style that drew me in and helped me to appreciate the holiday season. Let’s be honest, we’d all like to be in a good mood for the holidays and the right beer can help. Why not have a beer that tastes like Christmas in a glass?

I’m calling it a style but I’m not sure you’ll find “holiday brew” listed in the dictionary of beer styles. To me, these are beers that can run across styles and to categorize them would be to ask yourself, “does this beer put me in the holiday spirit?” If you answer yes to a particular brew, then, bingo.

These are beers that tend to feature a hearty malt character amplified with cinnamon, brown sugar, peppermint, vanilla and nutmeg — and, I don’t know, maybe chocolate. You’ll find holiday beers that are wheat beers, amber lagers, stouts, porters, sours, brown ales, bocks and dunkels, and there is probably some brewer right now trying to offer patrons a holiday IPA.

I wasn’t alone in my obsession. To this day, one of my college buddies receives an annual shipment of Harpoon Winter Warmer from his mother on his doorstep in California.

Then again, holiday beers aren’t for everyone. I can never forget the look of utter disgust — classic bitter beer face — on an acquaintance’s face as he tried to get through a sip of some holiday beer, wondering aloud, “What is that?” (The “that” in holiday beers is always nutmeg.)

I’m not as obsessed with holiday beers as I used to be, probably in part because there’s just so much incredible craft beer available that it’s hard to be too focused on one style, regardless of the season. Plus, more and more craft brewers are cranking out delicious, decadent stouts boasting huge flavors of chocolate, coffee and vanilla that aren’t necessarily holiday brews but are awfully hard to ignore at this time of year.

For a while it at least seemed like craft brewers weren’t really exploring holiday beers in earnest. That might not be reality, but it seems to me the style has received much more attention from brewers in recent years. That’s good news.

Here are four New Hampshire-brewed holiday beers to enjoy right now.

Footy Pajamas Belgian Style Holiday Ale by Henniker Brewing Co. (Henniker)

Dark fruit, spices and brown sugar: you can sip this 8.7 percent ABV brew slowly by the fire and let the beer and the flames warm you right up.

Monks Vice Belgian Quad by Loaded Question Brewing Co. (Portsmouth)

This isn’t brewed specifically for the holidays as far as I know, but with big flavors of complex caramel up front, it seems perfectly suited to this time of year. The brewery says the finish is “reminiscent of crème brulée from black strap molasses.” This is another slow sipper you can savor with friends and family.

Smuttlabs Peppermint Porter by Smuttynose Brewing Co. (Hampton)

This is basically a glass full of peppermint patties.

The Great AK; Dunkles Bock with Gingerbread by Northwoods Brewing Co. (Northwood)

I haven’t tried this one but it is now on my list for the holidays. Tabbed as the brewery’s “ode to the Master Woodsman of the World,” the beer is brewed with gingerbread and actual gingerbread men, resulting in “aromas of dates, plums, toffee and cinnamon.” Frankly, it sounds delicious.

What’s in My Fridge
Samuel Adams Holiday White Ale by Boston Beer Co. (Boston) Probably 15 to 20 years ago, if a beer was described as “citrusy and hazy,” this is what you’d expect. Nowadays, someone says citrusy and hazy, and approximately 1,000 percent of the time that person is talking about an IPA. This is a delightful brew; flavored with holiday spices and orange peel, it has a smooth, festive flavor with borderline nonexistent bitterness you can enjoy all winter long. Cheers.

Featured photo: Footy Pajamas by Henniker Brewing Company. Courtesy photo.