Cork & Bottle briefs

Wine of the Week and Make me a ...

By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published December 13, 2006

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Wine of the Week

Cava, Marques de Gelida, 2001

By now most wine drinkers know that cava is the name the Spanish use for their charmingly affordable bubbles. It refers to the cavas or cellars where the wines are made.

Gelida has been a special bargain for some time but its new orange and white label is getting the notice it deserves. If you insist the flash doesn't impress, Gelida can brag on the support of the great Spanish exporter Jorge Ordonez and no less than Robert Parker Jr.

What you should like is a crisp, dry sparkler, with a nose of pretty flowers and fruit and a bright taste of peaches. That it's refrigerator cheap and party pretty can add sparkle to everyday quaffing.

Availability: $10 at wine shops and liquor stores.

Chris Sherman

 

Make me a ...

Tiramisu

Why complain if cocktails taste like Baskin-Robbins flavors or a pastry shop? Instead, smile, smell the coffee and chocolate, and drink up your tiramisu. Indeed, in the past 25 years the Italian concoction of lady fingers, coffee, cream, mascarpone and cocoa became a staple flavor around the globe, and the Japanese put it in a soda.

At the Ceviche tapas bars in St. Petersburg and Tampa and elsewhere, bartenders pour those flavors in a martini glass. It's a creamy concoction that might make an eggnog alternative, just as rich and more potent, so it's sweet but not harmless.

Tip: Ceviche bartender Brian Mulay advises "With that ice cream, you have to give it a very good shake."

Chris Sherman

Mix it up

Tiramisu

1 ounce vanilla vodka

1 ounce chocolate chip cookie cream liqueur

1 ounce Kahlua

1 scoop ice cream (vanilla, chocolate chip, chocolate or coffee)

Put all ingredients in cocktail shaker with shaved ice, shake vigorously and pour into large chilled glass. Garnish with chocolate shavings, cinnamon or a sprinkle of cocoa or espresso. Or use a true Italian lady finger as a swizzle stick.