I found a website the other day that included suggestions for Albariño cocktails. Of course making a spritzer with white wine is quite common, but purist that I am, I really don’t believe in mixing our wine with anything….. just enjoy it chilled, on its own, as nature (or should I say Angela) intended when she lovingly created it!

Then I came across another article about the Kalimotxo – a ‘blend’ of red wine and Coca Cola that has been around since the 1970’s. Of course I had heard the rumours of Chinese millionaires enjoying their bottle of 1st growth Bordeaux wine made into a Coca-Cola spritzer, and I should add that I haven’t tried it myself, so perhaps I shouldn’t criticise it. Having said that, surely mixing any wine with Coca Cola can’t be a good thing? Now, I’m not knocking Coca Cola either because sometimes when I need a sugar hit, or when I’m super-thirsty, then a chilled can of Coke can really hit the spot – it might dissolve my teeth, but it does quench a raging thirst.

The recipe for this Kalimotxo ‘cocktail’ is actually quite simple (like the people who drink it I am tempted to say): empty half of a two-litre Coke bottle and add one litre of red wine to the mix, then add ice to taste. Both delicious and classy at the same time!

It is said that the name originated from a Basque festival when someone was served a sour bottle of wine and so mixed it with some Coca Cola to add a bit of sweetness. The inventor named it after a chicken character called Calimero, and moxto, which I think means mixed in Basque. In other parts of the world is it sometimes called Rioja Libre, which is a play on the more famous (and perhaps more palatable) cocktail of Cuba Libre – the Coke and white rum mix that we know and love.

I found a website the other day that included suggestions for Albariño cocktails. Of course making a spritzer with white wine is quite common, but purist that I am, I really don’t believe in mixing our wine with anything….. just enjoy it chilled, on its own, as nature (or should I say Angela) intended when she lovingly created it!

Then I came across another article about the Kalimotxo – a ‘blend’ of red wine and Coca Cola that has been around since the 1970’s. Of course I had heard the rumours of Chinese millionaires enjoying their bottle of 1st growth Bordeaux wine made into a Coca-Cola spritzer, and I should add that I haven’t tried it myself, so perhaps I shouldn’t criticise it. Having said that, surely mixing any wine with Coca Cola can’t be a good thing? Now, I’m not knocking Coca Cola either because sometimes when I need a sugar hit, or when I’m super-thirsty, then a chilled can of Coke can really hit the spot – it might dissolve my teeth, but it does quench a raging thirst.

The recipe for this Kalimotxo ‘cocktail’ is actually quite simple (like the people who drink it I am tempted to say): empty half of a two-litre Coke bottle and add one litre of red wine to the mix, then add ice to taste. Both delicious and classy at the same time!

It is said that the name originated from a Basque festival when someone was served a sour bottle of wine and so mixed it with some Coca Cola to add a bit of sweetness. The inventor named it after a chicken character called Calimero, and moxto, which I think means mixed in Basque. In other parts of the world is it sometimes called Rioja Libre, which is a play on the more famous (and perhaps more palatable) cocktail of Cuba Libre – the Coke and white rum mix that we know and love.