Not April Fool: Red wine and coffee

[Robin Garr]

(From this week's (30 Second Wine Advisor)

Not April Fool: Red wine and coffee

Can it be only a coincidence that the nation's first coffee-infused red wine rolls out to a waiting nation on April Fool's Day?

Despite the sad old joke about coffee and wine producing a wakeful drunk, this rumor appears to be true, at least according to the Modesto Bee, home-town newspaper of giant E. & J. Gallo. Gallo's Apothic label of modest California reds will adorn the coming bottles of Apothic Brew, a secret-recipe blend of Lodi-grown Petite Sirah, Teroldego, Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and more, all "infused" with a shot of cold-brew coffee.

"Red wine is often described with words related to coffee, like roasted or mocha or nutty. So Apothic Brew takes it one step further," Bee reporter Marijke Rowland wrote in the paper's Biz Beat business section on Wednesday.

Rowland described the brew as "a subtle, yet flavorful concoction that isn't overpowering in either direction." Her newsroom colleagues, "who were more than happy to sample the wine in the middle of a workday," offered generally positive opinions ranging from "it's awesome" to "it's not bad, really not bad," with mellow coffee flavor perceptible in a mild wine with a smooth finish, less tart or acidic than some red wines.

"Still, those hoping to substitute their favorite energy drink with the wine might be a tad disappointed," Rowland observed. "One glass of Apothic Brew only has about the same amount of caffeine as regular cup of decaf coffee. So, you know, not a bunch."

Cosmopolitan reporter Danielle Tullo, in a glowing March 14 report, exulted of the new brew, "It's like coffee and wine had a baby!"

Queried Tullo: "Would you rather: Only ever drink wine again or only ever drink coffee again? That's probably the hardest question of all time — and good news! Now you never have to choose, because thanks to the heroes at Apothic Wine, we now live in a world where coffee-infused red wine exists. ... I had the chance to try it with an early taste test, and oh my God, the stuff is good. I've had my fair share of gimmick booze (hi, blue wine and hard cold brew), but the Apothic Brew is as good as your go-to red wine."

So there you have it. I've got to tell you that I'm not sure I'll try this stuff. It's not the coffee-and-wine mix, which actually sounds like it could be appealing. It's the Apothic thing. In my continuing quest for inexpensive wines of good value – a quest that's been accelerated this month in our Wine Focus: How low can you go? – I've actually tried Apothic's wines, but to be honest, they didn't ring my chimes with their well-made but personally unappealing industrial style, overly sweet, with oaky vanilla and, yes, black coffee notes riding over simple fruit. Not my glass of wine.

But wait! Why buy a blend of coffee and wine when we can make our own? Explore the concept, using quality ingredients! I tore off to the kitchen and whipped up a glass of cold-brew coffee, using Illy espresso from Trieste, fine-ground. Then I grabbed a bottle of Mas de la Devèze 2013 Côtes Catalanes Malice Rouge, a spicy, berry-scented Southwestern France Grenache-Syrah blend from California Wine Club's International Series.

Just like a medieval apothecary (see what I did there?) I mixed, poured, tested proportions, until I came up with a blend of one part coffee to three parts wine that felt about right. I swirled. I swiffed. I tasted. I thought. And I'm going to say "Meh." In fairness, the blend isn't terrible. To tell you the truth, I'm sipping it as I type. But the whole in this case is less than the sum of its parts. It's very good coffee. It's very good wine. The mix errs toward dark and muddy, tannic and dull. The ingredients just don't meet and mingle. I won't do this again. And I don't see myself buying any Apothic Brew.

How about you? Does cold-brew coffee-infused red wine ring your chimes? Tell us what you think.

By sheer coincidence, just this week, I read about how rubbing coffee grounds into meat before cooking it adds zest to the taste. I've not tried that yet, so I cannot attest to its validity, but there were several positive testimonials to doing that.

Dick McLane

[Jenise]

Dick, the coffee flavor with beef is excellent. A favorite steak treatment here at Chez J is what we call Cowboy Steak. I combine equal parts finely ground coffee, sugar and kosher salt and dredge steaks in it just before throwing them onto a very hot grill. The sugar melts and caramelizes the coffee onto the steak's surface which creates not only an amazing flavor but a fantastic crusty bark. It's divine--especially with a big red wine, of course.

[Robin Garr]

Dick, years ago there was a recipe that got passed around among a few chefs here in Louisville that involved rubbing a duck breast with a combination of ingredients including crushed espresso beans before roasting. It was pretty good, and it didn't seem to keep you awake at night.

Robin: The two responses I've received (yours and that from Jenise) imply that the coffee used were the either crushed coffee beans or fine ground coffee, both presumably using the grounds before being used for making coffee. However, the item I referred to made a case for using the grounds after being used for making coffee - coffee grounds, per se. Goes right along with being environmentally friendly, i.e., reuse and recycle and minimize what we put in our landfill!

Dick

[Robin Garr]

Robin: The two responses I've received (yours and that from Jenise) imply that the coffee used were the either crushed coffee beans or fine ground coffee, both presumably using the grounds before being used for making coffee. However, the item I referred to made a case for using the grounds after being used for making coffee - coffee grounds, per se. Goes right along with being environmentally friendly, i.e., reuse and recycle and minimize what we put in our landfill!

Dick, I can't speak for Jenise, but I think my mind probably rejected the idea of using spent coffee grounds because I instinctively think of them as garbage. Or at best, compost. Now that you've clarified, though, I wouldn't object to experimenting on the basis of sustainability.

Here's a relevant post from Epicurious:
https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/ ... so-article

I wouldn't automatically reject coffee grounds as garbage - heck, if you can pass off elephant poo as expensive coffee....

My concern would be that the spent grounds had little flavour.

And I do as jenise does - use some very fine grind coffee, often a very dark roast, together with a bit of thyme or rosemary I blitz in a spice grinder and a little sugar and a lot of coarse salt on steaks.

The idea of rubbing in, essentially "garbage", i.e., used coffee grounds, on an otherwise acceptable piece of meat, chicken, etc., as a taste enhancer, also goes against my natural instincts. None the less, I might just experiment some time, just to see for myself, if what the person who said doing this was legitimate, was on to something. And if it doesn't taste so good, well, I'll have a glass of wine handy to offset the bad taste!
Dick

Did pork chops last night - coated with finely ground espresso, some brown sugar to get some caramelization, and coarse salt and ground black pepper last night..

3 min. each side in a cast iron pan on the burner and then into a 400 deg. oven for about 7 min.

Now that's a proper use for coffee!

[Jenise]

Bill, did you have a good time cleaning that pan?

I won't even do this treatment on my indoor grill--it goes outside! We have two outside options now, a small Kitchen Aid gas model an a big black ceramic egg for charcoal we call "The Boss".

Actually, with a seasoned cast iron pan the remains from cooking come off pretty easily using a bristle brush and it doesn't hurt the seasoning of the pan.

PS - I thought YOU were called The Boss........

[Jenise]

My cast iron pans never stay well-seasoned because my dishwasher it too diligent. But even then, I'd fear of putting sugar in there--at least not in equal measure to what I use to build the crust on a barbecue.

[Jenise]

Robin, here's a fun must-read for you on the Apothic Brew. And yes, I was at this event--27 tasters divided into four groups, and each got a bottle of this. Though we (that means me too) in fact totally missed idenitifying the Bogle cabernet as the cheap wine at our table, nobody but nobody mistook this for real wine.

https://spitbucket.net/2018/04/08/apothic-brew-wine-review/

Interesting, a good read.

[Robin Garr]

Ha! Thanks for sharing that, Jenise. Good story, well written. And funny.

I may be wrong, but I had some faint memory of someone adding chocolate to red wine, probably a natural given the various chocolate descriptors used with some reds. Was that a real product or a 'pigment' of my imagination? Seems like a natural for Gallo et al.

[Robin Garr]

There's a nasty cheap label called Layer Cake that uses a slice of cake as its logo. I don't think it really has chocolate in it, though, just tons of sweetness.

[Robin Garr]

Here we go! I knew something was tickling my memory:

TRENTADUE CHOCOLATE AMORE
Tasting Notes
We produce this opulent dessert wine from Merlot grapes grown on our Geyserville Ranch. Borrowing from the traditions of port making, we add neutral grape spirits to stop fermentation, trapping a percentage of sugar in the wine. Once Chocolate Amore is finished aging and is ready for bottling, we infuse a tiny amount of natural chocolate extract to the final blend, creating the perfect marriage of food and wine. This Merlot based, port-styled wine is great over vanilla ice cream or as a stand alone dessert.
https://trentadue.com/xe/xe.asp?page=vi ... VTPCAAV375

Guess it started with adding other substances to the winemaking process that used to be entirely natural. Add acid, or water, take water out to concentrate, remove alcohol with reverse osmosis, plant Eucalyptus trees beside your vineyard because you aren't allowed to actually add any to the wine in the winery.......I guess this is where it leads us.

Chemistry set wine.