“The fruit: they are a great ally when it comes to adding color to any spontaneous creation, from the most popular, such as oranges, grapefruit and tangerines, to other seasonal ones such as watermelon, melon, mango, passion fruit, strawberries or blueberries”, points out Max Ortiz, sommelier of Colosso Wines and Sottano wineries when thinking about the drinks to accompany the celebrations of Valentine’s Day, the day of lovers that has been on the local agenda for a long time. “You can cut them into slices, use their skin to perfume your glass, make juice, or use the blender… But never put the sparkling wine there,” remarks Ortiz.
Other unavoidable aggregates are the herbs and spices. “If you have some aromatic plants on the balcony or at the back of the house, bingo! With mint, basil, lemon verbena, eucalyptus, rosemary you can manage to take your drink to another corner”, adds the sommelier who drives to seek to match flavors to find others matches on Valentine’s Day: “mint goes well with lemon… and you can combine herbs with fruit.”
Finally the spices, which provide distinctive notes but can also be the base of a drink. “You can also use the varieties of tea in bags that you have and make cold infusions… large glass of wine, ice, sparkling wine and your favorite flavor of tea…”, develops Ortiz who aims to test the combinations of cloves, star anise, peppers and cinnamon. And leave your three favorite recipes with sparkling wine.
Graduate
In a large wine glass, or balloon glass, place basil leaves, fill with ice, and pour 90 ml of fresh grapefruit juice. Add 45 ml of gin and complete with 120 ml of sparkling brut nature.
Aztec blood
In a long drink glass with ice, mix 2 oz of dark or aged rum, 1 cinnamon stick, 30 ml of apple juice, 1 splash of vermouth rosso, and top with 120 ml of sparkling demi sec. The bubbles feel good accompanied by ripe and sweet fruits.
You arm my sunshine
Strawberries cut into wedges, a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and a small spoonful of honey are mixed in a smoothie, which is served in a shot glass (or whiskey glass) with 120 ml of a pink sparkling wine. “In our market there are sparkling wines made from malbec and they are very versatile when combined,” Ortiz closes.
by RN
