With the cool days of autumn upon us, it’s tempting to stay indoors and entertain. Throw in a few holidays and, all of a sudden, you’re hosting plenty of dinners. While well-selected wines will always play their roles in making dinners, why not truly wow your guests? A few perfectly chosen items besides the fermented grape juice will add depth and richness to your soirée.
First, there are aperitifs. Why not offer a vibrant Spritz-style cocktail, made with the French elderflower liqueur, St-Germain. This frightfully delicious nectar (available at the LCBO for $49.95) is made from elderflower blossoms that are hand-harvested annually during a four- to six-week period (each bottle of St-Germain is numbered to indicate the year of harvest). After picking, the blossoms are macerated in eau-de-vie and cane sugar to produce a liqueur of great floral and fruit character. To make the St-Germain Spritz, combine 1½ parts St-Germain, 2 parts sparkling wine (a fine Prosecco or Cava will do) and 2 parts sparkling mineral water over ice and serve immediately.
With a bottle of Aperol on hand, you can step up your host game and also offer an alternate style of Spritz. A cocktail for your guests who find bitter to be better. With the previous recipe, simply substitute the Aperol for the elderflower liqueur (and you can throw in a slice of orange for good measure as well) and enjoy. Aperol ($23.50 at the LCBO) is a classic Italian aperitif made of herbs and oranges. Its flavour is of tangerines with an intense herbal and bitter character. Used in cocktails, it’s incredibly refreshing. In fact, using Aperol is truer to the cocktail’s origins in northern Italy’s Veneto region. That said, both versions are easy to make and very tasty.
If a spirit is preferred, there should always be a great expression of one available for your guests. For vodka, try a bottle of Tito’s Handmade Vodka ($34.95 from the LCBO). It’s made in small batches in an old-fashioned pot still by Tito Beveridge (a 40-something geologist) in Texas. At 15 years old, the distillery is apparently Texas’s first and oldest legal one. Not only will your guests marvel at the quality of this excellent vodka, they’ll even have a story to talk about. Use it in whatever vodka cocktail, but it’s excellent in a dirty martini (one with olive juice added) with some spicy pickled olives.
For a beer option, again, you can go local, with an awesome beer from Ottawa’s Kichesippi Beer Company. Their Natural Blonde is a great pale ale with lots of spice and hop character, and is available either at the brewery or at select LCBO stores for $12.95 per six-pack. Or, if you’re looking for something a little more exotic as beers go, there are the fabulous beers from Birra Bruton in Italy’s Tuscany region. The Stem Wine Group, a consignment agency, sells three kinds of their beer. My favourite is the English Pale Ale style called Lilith. It’s densely flavoured with lots of citrus, malted grain and hops. The finish is fresh and invites you back for more, and it’s particularly good as a pairing with a cheese course. All the Bruton beers cost $11.99 per 750-ml bottle and are available in six-packs from Stem.
A nice Scotch provides a nice end to the evening, and an award-winning version is even better. Bruichladdich The Organic is a sensational multi-vintage scotch that delivers a massive aromatic and flavour experience. There’s candied citrus and toasted barley with notes of nuts, floral and oak and the texture is silky and elegant. And it’s organic. The distillery itself is on Islay, an island off the west coast of Scotland, famous for its whisky production. Besides the distilling wizardry of Jim McEwan, they also have the oldest working still in Scotland at 130 years of age. The Organic sells for $81.45 and can be found in select LCBOs where they keep the higher-end whisky.
Before you decide to serve only wine at your next event, why not look after all the details and provide an interesting and thoughtful array of spirits, beers and
liquors? It will make your dinner events the stuff of legend among your friends.
Pieter Van den Weghe is the sommelier at Beckta dining & wine.
