Affordable Wines for Every Holiday Soirée

‘Tis the season to be jolly and what better way to accomplish that objective than with a good bottle of wine. When guests come 'round you’ll be ready for for everything from casual entertaining to a full blown house party with a few good wines. The thing that makes wine a perfect choice for holiday celebrations is that you don’t have to dip into the Christmas shopping budget to afford them, since there are a number of good brands available at about $10 per bottle.  –roz edward

McManis Family Vineyard 
Cabernet Sauvignon 2005
$10
This wine will “wow” the most discerning guests, especially if you tell them what you paid per bottle.  A deep garnet colored red wine with plenty of blackberry and cherry on the palate. The perfect party wine.

Kendall Jackson 
Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay 2005
$10

To make and cherish fond holiday memories, break out this chardonnay is a delicious compilation of fruit and smoke, full-bodied and balanced, and supported by a rich, buttery texture. Kendall-Jackson is known for consistent quality, and its reputation for producing wines that are reasonably priced.



Vog Quatro
$9

The stylish packaging houses a blend of merlot, shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir (hence the name) from Italy, the unique bottle and price will hook many buyers looking for an interesting bottle of wine that won’t break the bank, but the pleasant way                                 the different varietals blend will certainly have you coming back for
                              more.

Sutter Home Moscato
$9

While the jury is still out on sweet wines, there is something about the sweet, creamy, peach flavor of Sutter Home’s moscato that makes you feel like maybe it shouldn’t pair with dessert so much as replace it.



Yellow Tail Shiraz
$7

There is a reason that the Yellow Tail brand has done so well in the U.S. and abroad, and it comes down to making consistent, quality wines at a perfect “party” wine price point. The wine has a fruit-forward flavor that guests will enjoy whether they are “into” reds or not.

Korbel Champagne 
Brut
$10
And no celebration is complete without a bottle of the bubbly on hand,  This is a champagne stand by that is perfect for party goers, the taste is good and the price is right for poppin’ corks all night. .

Thanksgiving: LET’S DRINK TO IT

The holiday crunch is upon us. And while you may have planned your Thanksgiving menu — traditional or something with a twist — if you haven’t decided what to serve your guests pre, during and post meal, here are a few suggestions.

Pre-dinner: Apple Pie Cocktail
3/4 ounce Bacardi Traditional White    
Rum
1/4 ounce Martini & Rossi Rosso
Vermouth
1/4 ounce Apple Brandy
1/2 ounce Lemon Juice
dash of Major Peters’ Grenadine

Stir in a mixing glass with ice, and then strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.


Chocolate Pumpkin Pie-tini

3⁄4 ounce vanilla flavored vodka,
Smirnoff®
1/2 ounce Irish cream liqueur, Baileys®
1⁄2 ounce coffee liqueur, Kaluha®
1⁄2 ounce crème de cacao
1⁄8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, Irish cream, coffee liqueur, crème de cacao, pumpkin pie spice, and cayenne pepper. Add ice; cover and shake until very cold. Strain into a chilled martini glass.




During Dinner: Wine

Serving wine at Thanksgiving, can be a challenge because of the variety of dishes and flavors. If the dish is sweet (sweet potatoes), look for wine with fruitiness. If the dish is spicy, look for wine with low alcohol content to minimize the heat. Acidic foods such as cranberry sauce or collard greens, call for a wine with acidity, for it to stand up to tart tastes. Pinot Noir is a great silky, sensuous red wine that meets all of those characteristics. With its typical tart-berry fruit, warm spices, and earthy aroma, it’s a slam dunk for Thanksgiving. A pinot can do right by almost all the exuberant side dishes a turkey requires.

You might also want to try mulling wine in a crock pot. Mulling spices are available in most fine wine stores and specialty food markets. It’s a great and cozy addition for a holiday meal, that you may just want to make a holiday tradition.

Post-Dinner: The Ciroc Truffletini
1/2 ounce Ciroc Vodka
1 ounce Godiva White Chocolate Liqueur
1/2 ounce Godiva Chocolate Liqueur

Shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with Godiva Milk Chocolate Truffle or White Chocolate shavings.

The Most Affordable Cocktails for Holiday and Pigskin Parties — Make It A Potent Punch

Thanksgiving is coming soon, and it’s time to think about making drinks en masse for guests who will gather at your home for the holiday or a Sunday afternoon football game — or both. In general punches with alcohol are the best and most affordable way to accommodate revelers. I suggest moderately priced alcohol — not the bottom of the cask that causes those awful hangovers but it doesn’t have to be top shelf, either. That goes for all the alcohols — something moderately priced and for moderate consumption — if you can manage the latter. –roz edward

Cranberry and Pineapple Champagne Brunch
Start off your party with this festive punch made with pineapple juice, cranberry-raspberry juice concentrate, and seltzer or champagne.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 11 cups

1 can (48 ounces) pineapple juice, chilled
1 container (8.5 ounces) cranberry-    raspberry juice concentrate
1 liter seltzer water or 1 bottle champagne, chilled

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a 3-quart pitcher or punch bowl. Serve over ice. Makes 11 cups.

Hennessy KAWS N’ Effect

1 ounce Hennessy VS
1/4 ounce fresh lime juice
1/2 ounce mango juice
1/2 ounce pineapple juice
1/2 ounce passion fruit juice
1 ounce Amaretto liqueur
2 dashes of Angostura Bitters
A splash of Grenadine

Garnish with orange and lemon slices.

The Big Brew
A great game day cocktail. The ease of making the Big Brew makes it ideal for holidays, football parties and tailgating.
   
Make a whole pitcher of the mixture:
20 ounces Ginger Beer
4 slices of ginger
2 tablespoons of lime juice
5 mint leaves, torn up

1. Combine in a pitcher keep in fridge, set a liter of Bombay Sapphire gin near the pitcher in the fridge with instructions on how much to pour.

2. Pour 2 ounces  Bombay Sapphire in a pint glass.

3. Pack with ice, top with mixture.

Check this one out. This is one potent punch!!!

The Chatham Punch was created in Savannah, Ga., to accommodate as many as 200 guests. We scaled this one back for a party of 20.

4 cups Bacardi White Rum
2 cups Bombay Sapphire Gin
2 cups Jim Beam Bourbon
2 cups Christian Brothers Brand
1 1/2 bottle sweet red wine
1 gallon strong cold tea
1 cup maraschino cherries, drained
1/4 pound pineapple chunks (fresh)
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
Juice of 4 lemons
1 bottle dry champagne

HIP-HOP INSPIRED COCKTAILS TO BUILD YOUR PRE-THANKSGIVING SWAG

MCs rappers and hip-hop artists have made their mark on the culture on so many different fronts, from fashion to food and even the language, they are shaping a brave new world on urban scenes across the nation. And most tend to have a drink du jour, whether it’s “poppin’ corks,” “sippin on gin and juice” or just plain “blame it on the alcohol” it’s big business for the clubs, the artists and the companies looking to connect with young African American urbanites.
So, every time Luda or Diddy name-drops a product, sales automatically shoot up — so here’s to them. –roz edward





Conjure
As Luda says of his premier cognac,
“We get straight to it. We’re straight no chaser …
I might put a little lime in there but I like mine just on the rocks. You’ve gotta taste the essence of what’s going on.”

 Thug Passion
This drink is one of 2Pac’s favorites, which he references in the song of the same name. But instead of a $350 bottle of Cristal, use any champagne that fits your personal tastes and finances.

2 ounces Hennessy® Cognac
2 ounces Alize® liqueur
2 ounces champagne

Mix all ingredients in shaker with ice and pour into champagne flute.

Babygirl
Both 50 Cent and Busta Rhymes signed on to promote Leyrat premier cognac. But we caution, “Not a lot, baby girl, just a lil bit.”
2 ounces Leyrat cognac
2 ounces Baileys® Irish Cream
2 ounces Kahlua® coffee liqueur
Pour all three ingredients into a cocktail shaker half-filled with cracked ice. Shake well, and strain into a highball glass filled with cracked ice. Top with whipped cream, if you’re into it.
Shake ingredients over ice and serve.

Tap That Ass  
Swizz Beatz debuted on May 5 as the new frontman for Hennessy Black with his live performance in New York of “When I Step Into the Club,” alongside the JabbaWockeez of “America’s Best Dance Crew.”  Here’s one of the label’s hottest new cocktails.

1 ounce Hennessy Black® cognac
1 ounce Alize® Red Passion liqueur
1 ounce Alize® Gold Passion liqueur
1 splash cranberry juice
top with soda water

Fill the hurricane glass with ice. Pour the Hennessy, Red Alize and Yellow Alize. Splash in some cranberry juice and top it off with soda. Add blackberry to garnish.

Ciroc Peach Vodka
The newest entry in hip-hop-influenced libations is Diddy’s CIROC Peach Vodka. The music mogul and branding beast dropped the newest and fourth in CIROC’s line of flavored vodkas on Oct. 21 at Love nightclub in D.C. to celebrate Howard’s homecoming weekend.


The Georgia Dome
2/3 ounce Peach CIROC
1/3 ounce ginger ale
Pour in tall glass and fill  with Mango Fruitista.

Ledisi Rocks Atlanta's Symphony Hall on Friday Night in Atlanta

It’s her time, and Ledisi is pushing it all over the top in her first ever headline tour that tore the roof off the Atlanta Symphony Hall in downtown Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 28. The powerhouse singer has matured beyond her years professionally since rolling out first covered as an emerging artist only a few short years ago.

Ledisi told a sold out house that some in the industry told her she couldn’t pull off her own headline tour and she appeared to be honestly overwhelmed and surprised when the very animated audience sprang to their feet to applaud and shout their approval and appreciation.  The New Orleans born singer’s spectacular vocal control, sometimes simmers in ow bluesy and jazzy tones and then erupts into an ethnic rock which is reminiscent of the Mother’s Finest sound.

And when Ledisi wasn’t winning converts her nothing less than amazing voice, she was thoroughly entertaining as she performed a bit with back up singers in which she played a champagne-drinking and cigarette-smoking diva.  One of the most powerful transitions in the show was when Ledisi and opening act, Timothy Bloom sang the moving duet, “Stay Together.”

Concert highlights included show-stopping renditions of  “That’s What It’s About,” “Turn Me Loose,” “I Tried,” and wrapped with her signature “Pieces of Me,“ which was perforated with a brilliant scatting run. Fans stayed and cheered until the singer came back to the stage for an encore performance and again thanked Atlantans for making the first headline tour a success.

All-in-all a powerful and first rate performance. –roz edward

Welcome to the Sweet Shop

The mood-altering properties of chocolate is the stuff of legends. The creamy confection is commonly associated with pleasure and even love — and coincidentally, so are alcoholic beverages in varying forms. So, a marriage between the two was inevitable, and these much-celebrated cocktails featuring rich and luxurious chocolate liqueurs and liquors may be just the boost you need at the end of the day.

Adult Chocolate Milk
Adult Chocolate Milk (that our girl Patti is holding) tastes just like the original classic — with a very adult alcohol update.

Naughty Nightcap
2 ounces Adult Chocolate Milk
1/2 ounce coffee liqueur, 1/2 ounce Amaretto
A splash of grenadine.
Mix ingredients. Serve chilled as a martini or on the rocks.
 

Frozen Mudslide Recipe
2 ounces vodka
2 ounces Kahlua coffee liqueur
2 ounces Baileys® Irish Cream
6 ounces vanilla ice cream

Blend alcohol with ice cream. Serve in a frosted hurricane glass and enjoy.

Mint Baileys Chocolate Martini
½ ounce vodka
1 ½ ounces mint Baileys® Irish Cream
½ ounce Godiva white chocolate liqueurs
Chocolate syrup
Ice
Mint leaf for garnish

Vanilla Vodka Oreo Shake
3 ounces vanilla vodka
2 ounces chocolate syrup
8 ounces whole milk
8 ounces premium vanilla ice cream
3 ounces (about eight) crushed Oreo cookies

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree on high speed for 45 seconds. Pour into two chilled glasses.

 

Cocktail and Cocktail Etiquette for Business Gatherings

While clubbing is cool and lunching with colleagues can be a learning experience, there’s nothing like meeting new people and sharing business ideas over a cocktail. Networking offers the opportunity to share ideas, connections and referrals with others.

Actually, you need to get the art of business networking while drinking down because it’s an activity that you’ll probably repeat many times. Knowing how to behave will be the key to success in your business environment.

And the holidays are coming which means the office party. They can be tricky to navigate, you don't know how much of your hair to let down, and then there's always some horror story about the way so-an-so behaved last year. Don'y tou be the so-and-so.

Look focused, look driven.

You will be regarded as a positive person who isn’t afraid of going after what he wants. This is a crucial part of the first impression you want to project. Only, don’t try too hard. This is, after all, a party, and some of the most influential guests might be somewhat annoyed by an obsessed brownnoser.

The drink for that: Cape Codder
Recipe:
3 ounces cranberry juice
2 ounces vodka
lime wedge

Be Energetic
Make sure your energy level is high, and that you sparkle. Your attitude is the first thing other guests will notice about you. Don’t scan the room for people you find more worthy of your presence. When you wish to move on, excuse yourself during a pause, such as after everyone has shared laughter.

The drink for that:  Lilac Martini
Recipe:
1 ounce lilac simple syrup
2 ounces vodka
splash of club soda

Always Mingle
Even if this is a business affair, deals won’t be made around a table with documents and computers. You’re there to schmooze and show off your people skills. Work the room and introduce yourself to the people you want to meet. An even easier way is to find a common acquaintance to make the introduction.

The drink for that: Rare Maple Leaf
Recipe:
2 ounces Crown Royal Canadian Whiskey
1/2 ounce lemon juice
1 teaspoon real Canadian maple syrup
ice

MVI 3127

MVI 3128

Stevie Wonder's Performance at Rev. Lowery's Extravaganza in Atlanta

I attended civil right icon Rev. Joseph Lowery's 90th birthday party at Atlanta's Symphony Hall in the Woodruff Arts Center on Sunday night.  It was like a splashy, but classy church service replete with choir, toe tapping gospel singers, preachers, celebrities, politicians and members of the president's camera. CNN's Soldedad O'Brien moderated and performers included Jennifer Holliday, Tramaine Hawkins and Stevie Wonder. Delta Airlines named a new 757 plane for the beloved Lowery, which will take him to the dedication of the King Memorial in Washington next week.

‘The Playboy popup Club’ at Vanquish Lounge: It’s a Lifestyle

Vanquish Lounge, newly opened in Atlanta offers a striking picture of A-town celebrities and tastemakers living that coveted lifestyle and celebrating a cultural icon — the Playboy Bunny. We rolled up to Vanquish on a Wednesday night for pop up party promoting the “The Playboy Club” television series. There is probably not a better venue in all of Atlanta to reproduce the Playboy lifestyle. Planners hit the mark from the safari-chic decor, glamorous guests and top shelf cocktails in the perfect stemware. 

What we had:

The Glenlivet Scotch — first on the rocks and later neat. The pour is adequate, but at $12 a shot, I prefer the bartender use his own discretion. The Glenlivet is the best known of single malt scotches and the taste is so recognizable that preceding Glenlivet with “The” is totally appropriate.

Only 100 bottles of 70 year-old The Glenlivet 1940 have been released. Each is presented in a gorgeous tear-shaped, hand-blown crystal decanter. 

Club owner Michael Gidewon has spared no expense stocking the bar, which is a pretty tall order since the club is just across the street from Loew’s stunningly lit wall of alcohol. –roz edward

Upscale cocktails included:

Cîroc Blue Ocean To make a statement with your cocktail — color it.

1 ounce Cîroc Vodka  

1/2 ounce Blue Curacao

1/4 ounce grapefruit juice Splash simple syrup

Shake with crushed ice.

Strain into champagne flute.

Garnish with a white orchid.

Best served with: Cîroc Vodka

And in keeping with the theme of the evening, — the 1960’s when Playboy was king, guests were appreciating Old Fashioneds with a new twist:

The New Fashioned:

1 ounce Crown Royal® 

1/4 ounce Simple Syrup 

1/2 ounce Almond Liqueur 

1-3 dashes Bitters 

Stir the ingredients in a shaker of ice and strain it into a rocks glass. Garnish with an orange peel.

Lemon Drop 

And then there was the ultra-popular Lemon Drop. The great thing about this drink as they are as good as the first time, every time.  Enhance the citrus flavor by adding 1/4 ounce of Cointreau and only 1/2 teaspoon simple syrup. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces Smirnoff vodka

3/4 ounces lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar syrup

lemon twist for garnish

Pour the vodka, lemon juice and sugar syrup into a shaker with ice cubes.

Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with the lemon twist.

Drink to the Future: Literally!

Would it surprise you to learn that the drinks of the future are available now? In some cases, they even look like a science project. From the iridescent cocktails popular in the Miami/South Beach area to the cutting edge stuff Chicago’s superstar chef-cum-mixologist Grant Achatz is infamous for.

It’s true, bartenders around the country are pushing the envelope and experimenting with mind-bending drinks. It’s called molecular mixol
ogy. Achatz created a cocktail-filled ice balloon that once shattered spills into an old fashioned rocks glass. But while most of these creations should not to be tried at home, here are a few we recommend. —roz edward

 





Neon Berry Caiprinha

The drink glows in the dark — or even better — under a black light, thanks to the interaction of the blue curacao and the green lime juice. You can also add Illuzoon a natural colorant with an amazing effect: it glows under UV-light.
1 ounce Ciroc Citron vodka
1 ounce Blue Curacao liqueur
1 ounce lime juice
1 splash pineapple juice
 Also hailing from the Windy City, are iNG’s “flavor-tripping” entries in the new cocktail milieu. The establishment uses a “miracle berry,” a pill or powder derived from an African berry that alters your taste buds and turns bitter to sweet.

 The Nitrous Oxide – not so much high-tech, but it takes skill all the same.
3/4 ounces Crown Royal
3/4 ounces orange liqueur (cointreau, grand marnier …)


 
Pour both ingredients into a brandy snifter. Tilt glass and flame the liquor. When flamed, cover it completely so no oxygen escapes (very important). You will feel a suction to the hand, pop your hand off, take the shot, and immediately cover the glass again so no oxygen escapes. Make a slight hole in between your index and thumb, and inhale as much as you can, and hold it. That is the Nitrous Oxide!


Gin and Tonic of the Future      

Cocktail is served in a flask with a frozen sheath of lime juice around the outside.



In the Rocks – A new fashion Old Fashion in which the cocktail is injected by syringe into a hollow egg of ice, which you shatter and drink. Really?