Ep 10: Your New Favorite Summer Wine & Cocktail (With a Naughty Name)
Looking to up your wine IQ by trying something new this summer? This crisp, white wine is a relative of Sauvignon Blanc and though it can be a little spendy, it's a tasty option for warmer weather.
And while we're talking wine, let's bring what is sure to be the cocktail of the summer into the mix too! Fruity with a hint of vanilla and a racy name, you're going to want to add this one to your repertoire!
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Christine Van Bloem:
Summer is here, warm weather, all the good stuff. So it's time to start thinking about summer wines. And I got to tell you, I am for sure. No wine expert. I just know what I like and what I like right now is Sancerre.. Say it with me folks. Sancerre so let's talk a little about this sometimes. Hard to find perfect summer wine. I was introduced to Sancerre a little over a year ago. At a funeral of all places, we had gone out for lunch after my husband's mother had passed and we were at a restaurant. We a brand, the whole thing out and someone before me asked the bartender if they had any Sancerre and the wine came out and it's a beautiful. Will white wine. Crisp lovely. And I was like, Sancerre sounds amazing. So that was the wine of the day, So. I did a little research because it was unusual to have, it's kind of a pubby restaurant. I thought to have a Sancerre there because It. can be. tricky to find.. Now, what is Sancerre, it's a region in France that produces a lot of wines. It's in the Loire valley. Good stuff there, but what it is is a really crisp. Well, leaning a little into minerality, right? As opposed to have you ever had a buttery Chardonnay? Yeah. You know what I'm talking about or a really oaky. Chardonnay. Well, this is the opposite of that. This is bright and crisp, and I was reading descriptions. Of how people would describe it. And it was like, oh, it's forward on the gooseberries. And I had to tell you, I don't think I've had a gooseberry a day. My life. So, I don't know what the heck that means, but what I look for. In the summer is a wine that's really dry. I tend to not go for the sweeter wines. Right. And Sancerre is a relative. Of Sauvignon blanc. I'm a big fan of those as well, because again, dry crisp. That's what I like in the summer. If I'm going to go buttery, chard. That has got to be a winter wine for me. I don't know why it just tastes heavier. It feels heavier on the tongue. If that makes sense. Again, no wine expert here. I just know what I like. Sancerre can be tricky to find. I live here in Frederick, Maryland. Gorgeous little town, about an hour west of Baltimore. Hour north of DC. I like to think we kind of have it going on with food and wine and all of that. And I still have trouble finding Sancerre. I go to the wine shop. That is, oh, I don't know, half a mile away. They always have a great selection. No, Sancerre I go somewhere else, two different bottles and that's it. I finally found a source. We have a local wine store here called the Frederick wine house and I stopped in they've recently relocated to this huge building. They're just fantastic. Oh my gosh. And they had so many different bottles of Sancerre. That I was thrilled. I was just so excited. I had a hard time choosing. Now let's talk about the downfall here. You can't grab one. Well, you can, I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I wouldn't grab one of every kind because Sancerre. Well, it's also a little pricey. I've gotta be honest with you. Now it's not a hundred dollars a bottle, but it's, I'm finding it to start around$35 a bottle, which is definitely an investment for me. But I'm not a huge drinker. I do love a really tasty cocktail. We'll get to that in a minute. And I really love a great glass of wine. I will definitely not drink a whole bottle. So I save it for when I've got a couple of friends over so that not a drop goes to waste because. I am very opposed to using a bottle of wine that costs$35 or more in my cooking. Even though, I'll be honest with you. The characteristics. Have a Sauvignon Blanc or a Sancerre work really well when you're cooking. Because you're not going to have those oaky flavors interfering with your food. Right. You're going to have more crispness, more lightness, more wine instead of Oak. If that makes any sense. So if you're a white wine lover and you are looking for something new this summer and you want something totally delicious and you want to impress your friends, maybe a little bit, I recommend grabbing a bottle of Sancerre. And given it a go. Okay. It is so lovely and I really, really want to hear what you think about it. Now. That's our wine of the summer. I'm going to tell you the cocktail of the summer. I swear I've been doing a little research on this and I've been seeing it pop up in different places. And it's got a naughty title. It's got a naughty title, but it is going to be, it's going to be the cocktail that you're going to find all summer long. And this is called. A porn star martini. Now I didn't make the name up. They say that the fellow. That made up this cocktail. Either he thought it was something that one would order, or it reminded him of a stripper's perfume. I don't know. I don't know any of that stuff. But what I know is this is a classic over. The UK and Ireland, we went on a. Big family vacation. The whole side of my husband's family. Couple of years ago, we all went to Ireland. It was. The most incredible trip. We had an incredible time. And the drinking age was lower there. So a lot of the cousins were having a great time. And we all had dinner together in Dublin. One night. And they had a ginger porn star on the menu. And of course we thought that was hilarious. My daughter and I were like, oh my gosh, that's so risky. Right? We thought it was so funny and. I remember turning. To our server and saying. You know, what's a ginger porn star and he was like, well, it's your classic porn star with ginger. And he was so irritated with us. And we're like, we've never heard of this drink ever. And what it is is it's a passion, fruit based drink, and you'll see it called a martini. And the way that, you know, an espresso martini is a martini. But this is really fruity and really nice. It's got vanilla vodka. It's got a passion fruit liqour and then passion, fruit puree in it. A lot of times it it needs to acid, so it'll have a little bit of lime juice and then it'll add a little bit of sparkling wine on there. And. For us, they also added ginger to it. And the garnish is half of a passion fruit. And for us, they bruleed it, which means they put sugar on the top part on the cut part and then hit it with a torch so that it gave you that little sugar crust. Like they give you on creme brulee. And it was really delicious, very drinkable. And if you're feeling like ordering something that sounds kind of naughty. But it's actually really fruity and fun and delicious. Then you're going to ask for the porn star martini. This summer. I just saw I was reading delish. I don't know if you guys have ever visited that website. delish.com and they have also, they said, this is it. This is going to be the drink of the summer. So if you're looking for something fruity, I think maybe you're catching my theme here. Right? I like things that are really light and fruity and crisp. All of those flavors that I've said a thousand times, this short little podcast. But these are your two for the summer. For wine, give a Sancerre a try. And for cocktails with a naughty name, give a porn star martini a try. I promise with the passion fruit. It is just so darn good. And it's going to be well balanced and very drinkable. So take it easy. That's it. I would love it. If you try either of these, please drop me an email. You can find me through my website, Empty Nest Kitchen dot com. I've got some great classes coming up this summer. You'll find those there as well. You can find me on Instagram at the Empty Nest Kitchen on Facebook at Empty Nest Kitchen. And of course. I'll see in the kitchen.
