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Wine briefs

Some things to know

Chillin' and jellin'

Don't just save that leftover wine: Solidify it! Cabernet, chardonnay or port can be sort of solid - jiggling solid - if you make it into jelly, as Barb Pzyyk of Spring Hill has done for years.

Her easiest recipe involves a minimum of canning fuss: 2 cups of wine, 31/2 cups sugar and one pouch of Certo. Stir until it dissolves, heat but don't boil, cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, skim off any foam. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Makes 4 cups.

Barb serves it with cheese, fruit and crackers. You could also glaze a chicken breast or pork chop, melt it into a sauce, or make your morning toast shine with a lot more flavor.

Think of it as Smucker's with a kick.

Add another flavor to the vodka rainbow: Smirnoff now does watermelon.

But you can get this grand flavor at its cleanest and crispest by making watermelon juice for mixed drinks or mocktails. Press watermelon chunks through a strainer to remove seeds or puree in a blender at low speed and sift seeds out later.

You can freeze cubes or melon balls and use them as pink ice. Don't forget the best trick: Cut a hole in the watermelon and pour in vodka gradually over three days. It's a great way to perk up daiquiris, gimlets, margaritas or sparkling wine and white zin.

It had to happen. Years of coffee liqueurs meet a modern brand name: Starbucks liqueur is made with the chain's house blend brew and 40 proof spirits. It packs a little caffeine: It'd take 6 ounces of liqueur to make as much as is in a 12-ounce cuppa joe. But that would be more than 1 ounce of pure alcohol, too.

Don't look for it from the neighborhood barista. This is bartender and liquor store stuff only.

In 2004, according to the Wine Institute, some 428-million gallons of California wine were disbursed in the United States, representing $15-billion of retail value. Total wine sales in the United States of $23.2-billion represented 668-million gallons from everywhere.

What would you select as the No. 1-selling domestic red wine in this country at any price?

If you said Blackstone California merlot, you'd be right.

And the good news for the buyers who created this phenomenon is that Blackstone's latest available vintage, the 2003, is currently in release at around $11 a bottle.

Winemaker Dennis Hill (who also is the Hill of the fine Hayman & Hill wines) does some interesting things to preserve the consistency of Blackstone's merlot.

The 2003, for example, contains only 2 percent more of the merlot grape in its cuvee than is deemed necessary by law to be called a merlot. Consequently, the wine's 77 percent merlot number really means it just made it as a merlot. As for the rest of the blend, 19 percent is syrah, 3 percent petite sirah and 1 percent cabernet sauvignon.

[Last modified May 17, 2005, 09:41:05]