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About Applegater. (Jacksonville, OR) 2008-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 2017)
Applegater Winter 2017 13 GRAPE TALK A wine cocktail is more than just sangria BY DEBBIE TOLLEFSON Holiday entertaining is in full swing, and I am ready with lots of great Applegate Valley wines, both white and red. This year I thought I would mix things up a bit and experiment with creating some wine cocktails. I started my research by reaching out to some of my wine- maker friends to see if they had any recipes for wine cocktails using their wines. I know this Wine cocktail made with Cowhorn viognier and Hopka. is risky because wine (Photo: Debbie Tollefson.) makers spend every waking hour trying to make their wines is one I created using Red Lily’s Cava (Aria the best they can be, and mucking about Brut). 16 oz. Red Lily Cava (or brut with that finely tuned profile could be champagne or prosecco) considered a major insult. Thankfully, Bill 2 oz. fresh lime or lemon juice Steele of Cowhorn Vineyard answered that 2 oz. simple syrup (equal parts sugar although he “doesn’t really make cocktails and water heated until dissolved) with wine,” his resident chef and tasting- Fresh ginger (cotton-ball sized) peeled, room ambassador, Dawn Strickmeyer, chopped, and muddled in a makes a great cocktail with Cowhorn cocktail shaker viognier. Thanks, Dawn, for this great Splash of limoncello liqueur recipe! Club soda to fill glass 4 oz. Cowhorn viognier Garnish with mint. 1 oz. Hopka (hops-flavored liqueur) Traditionally I have altered red or rosé 2 oz. LaCroix plain sparkling water wine when creating sangria. Here is a Serve over ice. One of my favorite uses of wine is to holiday sangria recipe using cranberries create a great sparkling wine cocktail. Here that I particularly like. Using Herb Quady’s Use Quady North Rosé in a holiday sangria recipe using cranberries. (Photo: Quady North.) great rosé and Red Lily’s Night School port, it is one of the best and most unique sangrias I have ever made. 1 cup water, 1 cup sugar 1 cinnamon stick 1 star anise 5 cloves 2 cups fresh cranberries 2 apples peeled, cored, and diced Heat water, sugar, cinnamon stick, star anise, and cloves until sugar is dissolved. Cool, then add cranberries and apples and refrigerate overnight. Strain the fruit and set aside the spiced water. To the fruit, add the bottle of Quady North Rosé and 1/3 cup Red Lily Night School port. Add 1/3 cup spiced water and chill. Serve over ice with mint garnish. (Make another batch with the remaining spiced Debbie Tollefson water or freeze for later use.) I also found a quick red wine cocktail that is very refreshing and easy to make. ¾ cup any Applegate Valley red wine ¼ cup lemon-lime soda Ice and garnish with a lemon or lime wedge. Here is a recipe using pinot noir and tequila. 1½ oz. good tequila 1½ oz. pinot noir (Schmidt 2012 pinot noir is a good choice.) ½ oz. lime juice ½ oz. agave syrup 2 ozs. blood orange soda (I love Trader Joe’s blood orange.) Garnish with a lime wedge. With any cocktail, either created from a recipe or invented on your own, I think you need to use the same rule that I apply whenever I use wine in cooking: If I don’t think the wine is good enough to drink, it probably isn’t good enough to cook with or to use in my wine cocktails. I hope these recipes show you the versatility of wine cocktails. Include some in your holiday entertaining using our great Applegate Valley wines. Happy holidays and a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2018. For everyone’s safety, be sure not to drink and drive! Debbie Tollefson debbie.avrealty@gmail.com HAPPY NEW YEAR! Burn reminder Before burning outdoors any time of year, check with your fire district to make sure that day is an official burn day and not a NO burn day. Jackson County • 541-776-7007 Josephine County • 541-476-9663 (Press 3) Advertiser list available online Be sure to visit applegater.org for a complete list of advertisers. ••• Please support our advertisers! They help make this paper possible. — N O T I C E — The Community Calendar, usually found on page 4, has been temporarily relocated to our website at applegater.org. Winter Concerts Where could you find autumn, Christmas, and jazz combined? At the winter concerts of Voices of the Applegate, of course! Hope Harrison, our energetic and exciting director, has put together an amazing collection of both the stirring and the soothing. From “I’ll Be Seeing You” to “Autumn” to the fanciful “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy,” the concert should be a showstopper. In addition to some very listenable, familiar Christmas pieces, we harmonize in a soul-moving rendition of “America the Beautiful.” Audience participation is always included, with a sing-along. Concert venues are Jacksonville Presbyterian Church, 6th and California Streets, at 7:30 pm on Friday, December 1, and Applegate River Lodge, 15100 Highway 238, at 3:00 pm on Sunday, December 3. There is never an admission charge, but donations are welcome and appreciated. For more information, call Joan Peterson at 541-846-6988.
