“Poor man’s Sangria” a hit in much of the world

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/05/2014 (4156 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three years ago, I wrote a column about my friend Chris, who drinks red wine with Diet Coke — a combination that appalls his wife, and frankly, most people with whom he shares the ingredients of his favourite beverage.

But ever the adventurer, when he told me, then showed me, what he was drinking, I was up for a taste. I was skeptical. And while I didn’t love it, I didn’t hate it either. It wasn’t bad! As strange as it might seem, it really didn’t taste as wretched as I thought it would. In fact, it didn’t taste wretched at all.

Chris’s reason for drinking red wine and cola was medical — he said his resting heart rate was too low, and said he thought the hit of caffeine he got in the mixture gave him a little lift and counteracted the slowing effects of the alcohol, at least in the heart department.

So because I had tried this at a party at which plenty of wine had already been consumed (both by me and the other attendees), I figured I better try it out on my own to make sure my taste hadn’t been completely compromised when I tried this combination the first time.

So I dragged out a bottle of dry red — not at all a good or expensive one, you understand — if I’m going to add cola to it, I know any special qualities or subtleties in the wine will be lost. So I mixed about four parts red wine to about one part cola, shook my head in disbelief that I was actually doing this again, and took a sip.

Well.

I have to confess I added more Coke. Once I was through, the portions were probably about 50-50, or 60-40 with the wine being the slightly higher amount. But again, I didn’t mind it.

That’s not to say I liked it. What it did do was turn a dry red wine into a very much sweeter red wine. And before all the purists write me off for good, let me just say, to each his or her own. This is not a beverage I’m going to have on a regular basis ­­— or ever again, for that matter.

But here’s the twist. While I thought Chris’s beverage creation was unique, it turns out he’s not the first one to have thought of this combination.

I was chatting with the pourer at the Trinchero Family Estates booth at the Winnipeg Wine Festival a few weeks back, and she tells me that the Charles & Charles Cabernet/Syrah (which is a really good wine on its own, and an especially great value for $14.99 a bottle) would be perfect for making what she called by a name I couldn’t quite make out — it was loud in the room and the pronunciation was foreign. However, I’ve since learned that what she referred to is called Kalimotxo or Calimocho.

According to an article by Jonathan Miles in the Dec, 2, 2007 edition of The New York Times, “the drink was supposedly created — or at least named — at a festival in Algorta, Spain, in 1972, when some young entrepreneurs discovered that the wine they had planned to sell tasted not just bad but toxic, and added Coca-Cola and ice to mask the flavour. It was an improbable hit.”

Miles went on to say that the combination is “…an affront to the wine only if you’re using the wrong wine. Calimocho wine should be ‘strong and dry,’ … or, if you wish to follow botellón tradition, harsh and cheap. The kind of wine that begs for a little helping hand.

One measure of a cocktail’s drinkability is its universality, and here the Calimocho scores big. In Chile and Argentina, a red-wine-and-Coke combination is known as a jote; in Croatia, it’s a bambus; in Germany, a kora or korea. Go ahead and grimace, if you like. But the world will keep on drinking.”

The lady at the Trinchero booth at the Winnipeg Wine Fest went on to say that in Chile, and likely elsewhere, the combination is often referred to as “Poor Man’s Sangria.”

And while real Sangria (if you’re making Sangria, I highly recommend using a Malbec) combines lower-end wine with fruit juices, fruit slices and some spices, among other creative things some individuals choose to add, a Malbec would be perfect for Calimocho as well.

And because you’re diluting the wine with other ingredients, there’s no need to spend a fortune on the wine.

A few to try would be the Trivento Reserve Malbec, the Trivento Reserve Cabernet Malbec or the Trivento Reserve Syrah Malbec (all are $11.99 a bottle), the Fuzion Alta Malbec Tempranillo ($11.99), the Trapiche Varietals Malbec ($10.99), the Finca Los Primos Malbec ($10.99), the Michel Torino Estate Cuma Malbec ($10.49), or the Fuzion Shiraz Malbec ($8.99).

Have fun experimenting with other wine cocktails of your own invention, too. The only limit is your imagination. And if you like it, to heck with what anybody else thinks. Take the lead from my friend. Bottoms up, Chris!