Summer Cocktails at Le Vigne

It is seriously hot, sticky and thick in the South during the summer months. These cocktails help. They might not make you any less hot and sweaty but after a couple you just won't care!

shine on $10

rhubarb puree, apple pie moonshine, lemon juice, fei brother’s rhubarb bitters, prosecco

ain’t that the berries $10

berries from our garden, lemon, lime, pyrat xo rum, honey vanilla syrup, house made grenadine

lolling about $10

bourbon, peach puree, lemon, house made grenadine, domaine de canton, mighty leaf verbena mint tea

all in a fizz $9

crop organic vodka, rose port, wood sorrel, lime, pelligrino

Photos and detailed directions to follow soon!

Ivanabitch

I have recently been given a bottle of Ivanabitch red berry flavored vodka. This is not a product that I would normally get super excited about but something in the absolute cheese and b.s. factor promotion of this product has struck my funny bone. It even has me sounding like a cheese ball. Nonetheless, check out what the back of this bottle says and then visit the web site for another guffah. The vodka itself, by the way, is something that I would mix with Kool aid by the pool if I was ready to get totally blatto. Never would drink this processed "berry" vodka otherwise. Almost reminds me of the Tussin skits from Chris Rock. I digress...
Back of the bottle:
"Believe it or not, Dmitri Ivanabitch was strolling through the forests of Holland one spring day and stumbled into a patch of red berries. Scraped up and cut, he pulled out his flask of Ivanabitch Vodka and began cleaning his wounds. The fragrance of the berries mixed with his prize vodka was delightful. He rushed home with a pocketful of berries and began working on his next recipe- Red Berry Flavored Vodka.

Now, you can enjoy the clean, smooth, taste of award-winning Ivanabitch Vodka  infused with the sweet taste of red berry just as Demetri did so many years ago. Stay tuned to see what bush he falls into next and until then-beware of bushes!!"

Wow! Seriously! Scary bushes... wait until you see the web site. http://www.ivanabitch.com

Obsessed with Nero d' Troia!

I don't often blog about things that I don't have a funny story for but...I absolutely adore this producer. John Given is a little known wine dude from Italy- at least he is little known in my neck of the woods. In general, people think that Georgians have little to no taste in wine. I, of course, think that I have impeccable taste in everything. I digress, this little known wine has been one of the best sellers at the tasting room and restaurant in the Montaluce vineyard in North Georgia. I feel like this single fact attests to the taste of my customers and my staff. This juicy and lightly tannic wine has both rustic and new world charm and is incredibly food friendly and drinkable! I especially like this wine with salty or fatty meats but would be just as nice with parmesan and olives or a lamb loin. Even if its not this Nero di' Troia try another of this varietal. Good stuff!



Tasting notes from the web site!

NERO DI TROIA, PUGLIA IGT, 2007
(Certified Organic)
Azienda Agrobiologica Di Tuccio Raffaele (Antica Enotria)
Since 1993, Antica Enotria has been producing
their wines without the use of chemicals
pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. The winery is
located in the province of Foggia just a few miles
from the Gulf of Manfredonia in Puglia.
Tasting Notes: A lean yet muscular, softly
tannic wine suggestive of dark red-berry fruit
with notes of licorice and leather.
90pts - Gregory Dal Piaz, snooth.com
"This has a hint of Band-Aid on the nose but there is
also deep, wild blueberry and blackberry fruit topped
with sweet licorice tones and a nice tarry overtone.
Light and lively on entry with very clear, brisk, wild
berry fruit. The tannins here are small-scaled but
firm, adding a light bitter underlay to the aromatic,
fresh, precise finish."
Region:  Puglia
Classification:  Puglia IGT
Area of Production: Daunia - Northern Puglia
Grape Variety:  100% Nero di Troia (Certified
Organic Grapes)
Soil: Mixed (Limestone&Clay)
Average Age of Vines: 9 years
Trellising System:  Guyot
Spacing of the Plants:  Approx 1800 plants per
acre
Production per Acre: 3.57 tons
Vinification Technique: After harvesting and
slight crushing, the grapes are left to macerate
on the their skins and ferment at a controlled
temperature of 25ºC for 12 days.
Maturation: Ages in steel tanks for 8 months
followed by an additional 6 months in oak
barrels.
Total Acidity: 5.50 g/l
Residual Sugar: 0.25 g/l
PH: 3.6
Alcohol: 13%
Total Cases Production 1250

Drink up!

Spanking the Mint

The first time I saw someone spank it- the mint- I was taking a Bar Smarts course and watching a video demonstration for the proper technique for making a mojito. Maybe it struck me so hilarious because I was "studying" for this course while "practicing" making cocktails and tasting them to make they were tasty. When I watched the demonstration for spanking the mint my own tasty mojito shot out of my nose as I guffawed burning the hell out of the lining of my nostrils and causing my eyes to stream tears.

I didn't think too much of the mint spanking issue until the first annual Killer Tomato Fest. Festivals like this are the mecca for cocktail geeks. The rules of competition for this particular festival stated that the cocktails and food had to be made with tomato thus the "Killer Tomato" moniker.  I was working the upstairs bar at JCT kitchen. The bar has panoramic windows that let me see all of the vendors and booths in the courtyard. The mixologist directly outside the the JCT bar is well known in Atlanta for his creative cocktail menus and is quite talented. He is also a cocktail geek which often means sporting odd outfits etc. This day he was wearing very tight shorts and an incredibly small mechanic's shirt. My view of him from the inside was of his back and his very tiny bum. Along with tomato his cocktail, of course, contained mint. I will never forget the look of him spanking that mint. He would shift his weight to one foot, hold out his left hand and lovingly place the mint leaves in his palm, clench his tiny butt and slam his open right hand into his left spanking the mint! I must have watched him spank his mint at least a hundred times that day. The first time I almost peed my pants. By the end of the day I was almost ready to join the mint spanking revolution.

The reason behind spanking mint is to release the essential oils in the mint so that you maximize the flavor and smell of the refreshing herb. I have never seen a difference between spanking and crushing for essential oil release. The only difference I have ever been able to see is the hilarity factor. I often choose to spank it because it amuses me.

I am also amused by seeing other people spanking it. I have a new trainee in my bar. She is an adorable blonde with a bubbly sense of humor. Last weekend I was teaching her to make an agave mint syrup for one of my cocktails. She spanked the hell out of that mint for 15 minutes. She made my week! I can't wait to make mojitos for this weekend's wedding. I wonder how many of my employees I can convince to spank it?

James Beard

James Andrew Beard (May 5, 1903 – January 21, 1985) was an American chef and food writer. The central figure in the story of the establishment of a gourmet American food identity, Beard was an eccentric personality who brought French cooking to the American middle and upper classes in the 1950s. Many consider him the father of American-style gourmet cooking. His legacy lives on in twenty books, numerous writings, his own foundation, and hisfoundation's annual Beard awards in various culinary genres.


So why do I care about James Beard in a cocktail blog? First, I was just privileged enough to be at his house to pour wine while the chef; Steven Hartman and the wine maker Maria Peterson, showed how incredibly talented they are! I have the honor of working with these talents and making sure the products that they have are managed in a responsible and gracious way.


About the food and wine:
Hors D'oeuvres
Springer Mountain Chicken Liver Mousse with Mead Macaroons and honey roasted peanuts
Pickled Georgia Shrimp and Honey-Cured Local Rainbow Trout Roe on Corncakes
Benton's bacon pound cake with sweet and sour huckelberry and maple creme fraiche
**paired with Mead(2x fermented honey wine) and risatta(dry rose made from vidal blanc, seyval blanc and merlot)
On The Table:
House cured ham, buttermilk biscuits, whipped butter, peach jam
**paired with 2010 primoro(fantastic white table wine made from vidal and seyval blanc)
First course;
Pickled Beets, spinning spider goat cheese, sorrel, montaluce wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil
**2009 montaluce, tramonto(Bordeaux style red blend)
Second Course:
Gerorgia lamb terrine; radish, pesimmon preserves, mint
**2008 montaluce, cabernet sauvignon
Sauteed Sunburst Farms Trout; baby bok choy, house cured & smoked trout, sorghum
** 2010 montaluce primaluce (blend of 60% chardonnay and 40% pinot gris)
Riverview Farms Slow Cooked Pork Shoulder; ramps, young mustard greens, rhubarb
**2008 montaluce, centurio (reserve merlot)
Local Organic Farm Fresh Egg Custard; creme caramel sauce, candied pecan
** 2009 montaluce, dolce (vidal blanc and seyval blanc hybrids but sweet)


So beyond the fact that the team i work with every day is amazing... We kicked ass at the James Beard House and are super fired up to do the things that we already do well even better!!! Thank you James Beard. Side bar: there is still a mirror in place in the house where his bed was. He is so my idol!!!

Tequilla

My first experience with tequila was in the house of a rather nerdy and foul co-worker of mine at one of the first restaurant jobs that I ever had. I was just barely 19 and with no prospects for the evening and went over to party. One of my friends and I ended up sucking nasty booze straight out of the bottle and playing dungeons and dragons with said co-worker and his many roommates. After consuming a a bunch of tequila, a mixto similar to moonshine, and eating a worm, the evening got predictably blurry. I did, however, come away from the evening with a much more clear meaning for "machismo." If one doesn't feel f'ing invincible drinking worms out of a Mexican moonshine bottle and battling fake demons than I don't know what could possibly do it. Unfortunately, the next morning waking with sand in my eyes, fire in my stomach, bile in my throat and next to foul smelling co-worker my invincibility waned and I felt very, very invincible.

For a long time after this incident the thought of tequila sent my head reeling. Luckily, I can now appreciate the finer things in life and agave based spirits are one of those indeed. I would not, well...probably not ever eat a bug out of a bottle to show off to some smelly dude again. And unless already in a bad state I would never again drink bad tequila.

I am not a tequila expert but the good people at Imbibe magazine are. If interested check out this article http://www.imbibemagazine.com/almost-famous. Imbibe is the most beautiful magazine ever published, in my opinion, and should be bought in print. They have a mezcal recipe in the Jan/Feb 2011 that I can't wait to try. It is called the El Nacional contributed by bartender Casey Robinson. 1 oz. mezcal, 1 oz. Campari, 1/2 oz. Ramazzotti Amaro, 1/2 oz. dry vermouth, and 3 dashes chocolate bitters.This recipe is stirred over ice in a mixing glass and served up in a cocktail glass and garnished with a couple of drops of Laphroig and a lemon twist. Yum!!! I will keep you all posted on the results of this one. Until then buy an Imbibe mag and get inspired!