Wine and Gin?

Night Harvest wines recently hired H. Joseph Ehrmann of San Francisco's Elixir to invent five wine-based cocktails. He'll have one on the menu each season in the bar, but last night they were all available for tasting.

And when booze news breaks, Camper English is there to mop up the spill and drink from the bucket. I went to Elixir and sampled the selection.

Though wine cocktails are beginning to be popular, usually the wine is used in small amounts in place of vermouth or as an agent to smooth out the burn of high-alcohol/acidy citrus drinks. The drinks H invented are all wine-forward in volume and taste, and are some of the first non-champagne cocktails I've tried that are designed to highlight the wine.

The Stargazer is made with chardonnay and dark rum, the Yuletide Moon with merlot and bourbon, the Sunset on Dunnigan with Sauvignon Blanc and gin, The Red White and Night with cabernet sauvignon and vodka, and the Vinter's Nightcap with shiraz and coffee and cherry liqueurs. Don't they all sound terrible? It turns out they're not.

You can find some of the recipes here.

(Photo copyright Night Harvest .)

Labels: cocktails, recipes, SanFrancisco, wine