TWILIGHT RISING
As the name inspires, a cocktail to be enjoyed just as day becomes night. Deep and sweet with a touch of acidity and fruit flavour.
INGREDIENTS
•1.5 parts Martell Caractère
•1 part pineapple juice
•3 parts cola
Add ingredients to a tall glass and fill with ice.
Garnish with a lime wedge.
BLUSH
A refreshing and palate cleansing long drink with depth of character and refreshing acidity. To be enjoyed late afternoon or as a pre-dinner drink.
INGREDIENTS
Add ingredients to a tall glass and fill with ice. Garnish with a thin slice of pink grapefruit
FLORAL CHERRY
Pleasant fruitiness mixes with a hint of menthol in this sophisticated cocktail. The hint of acidity works in harmony with the bitter sweetness of Martell VSOP and also accentuates its floral quality, while a hint of menthol keeps it light and fresh
INGREDIENTS
Shake and double strain into a coupette and garnish with an orange twist.
ROBUST COFFEE
Discover a twist on a classic cognac drink and enjoy how Martell VSOP works in harmony with bitter coffee flavours while maintaining a freshness and vibrancy. An excellent after dinner cocktail.
INGREDIENTS
Add a dash of Branca Menta to a rocks glass. Combine cognac, gomme and bitters in shaker, shake and strain into glass. Garnish with orange twist.
TOASTED LEMON
A classic cognac cocktail, beautiful in its simplicity. The sweetness of the toasted lemon brings out the slightly caramel and delicate quality of Martell VSOP.
INGREDIENTS
Shake and double strain into coupette and garnish with lemon slice.
THE PERFECT SERVE
The Perfect Serve puts the sense of ritual in serving Martell at the heart of cocktail making. Easy to create, it’s the simple details that work to release even more of the flavours and aromas of Martell VSOP.
INGREDIENTS
First, chill a brandy balloon by adding ice and water, or by leaving it in the freezer. Once the glass is chilled, add the cognac and water. Finally, twist orange zest over the cocktail and serve.
PLUM SPRITZ
A sophisticated, pre-dinner cocktail. With a good balance of sweetness and acidity, Martell Plum Spritz brings out the complexity of Martell VSOP.
INGREDIENTS
Build ingredients over cubed ice in a rocks glass. Stir and garnish with an orange slice.
There are three steps to a wine tasting they are as follows:
Look:
Taking a good look at the wine is very important as its appearance says a lot about the wine. First of all take a good look at the wine in your glass over a piece of white paper. See for the color, opacity and viscosity. In Colour classify your wine more then as red, white or rose. If it’s Red is the colour maroon, purple, ruby, garnet, or red. if it’s a white wine is it clear, pale yellow, straw-like, light green, golden or amber.
Smell:
To Understand and get a good impression of your wine, swirl your glass for a solid 10-12 seconds as this helps to vaporize some of the wine’s alcohol and release more of its natural aromas. Then take a quick whiff to gain a first impression. This can be divided into three categories:
Primary Aromas: are the aromas that include fruit, herbal, and floral notes.
Secondary Aromas: This come from the winemaking practices. The most common aromas are yeast, cheese, almond, peanut or beer.
Tertiary Aromas: comes from aging, usually in bottle, or possibly in oak. These aromas are mostly savory like nuts, spice, vanilla, tobacco, leather, or mushroom.
Taste:
Start with a small sip and let it roll around your mouth. There are three stages of taste: the Attack phase, the Evolution phase and the Finish.
The Attack Phase: This is the initial impression that the wine makes on your palate. The Attack is comprises of four pieces of the wine: alcohol content, tannin levels, acidity and residual sugar.
The Evolution Phase: In this phase you actually taste the wine on your palate and find the flavor profile of the wine.
The Finish: The wine’s finish is how long the flavor impression lasts after it is swallowed. Was it light-bodied (like the weight of water), medium-bodied (similar in weight to milk) or full-bodied (like the consistency of cream)
Storage:
Storage of wine is very important because if not stored incorrectly it can affect the flavour and in severe cases the wine can become faulty.
The following points should be followed while storing wine:
It should be kept at a cool temperature. The ideal temperature for storage is somewhere between 10°C and 15°C. If the is exposed to a high a temperature for long period of time, it may get spoiled and develop off-flavors. If it is exposed to temperatures that are too cold, it can freeze and expand, causing the cork to be pushed out of the bottle to crack; this will allow more oxygen to be exposed to the wine.
It must be kept in an environment where the temperature is constant and stable. An acceptable level of temperature fluctuation is said to be about 2 to 3°C (5°F) around the average once per year.
It should be stored in a horizontal manner to ensure that the cork remains in contact with the wine as if the cork dries out, it will let air in the bottle which will make the wine stale. Also if the cork is not in contact with wines it may get dry which will either cause sediments in the wine or the cork breaking while opening the bottle.
It must be kept in a dark place as strong sunshine and bright artificial light can heat the wine and make it become stale and old.
Keep the humidity between 60 – 80%. High humidity keeps the cork from drying and minimizes evaporation. Don’t allow the humidity to go too much over 80%, because it can encourage the growth of mold and cause the labels to loosen.
Keep the wine away from anything that has a strong smell, as wines tend to breathe and the smell will go through the cork and spoil it. Good ventilation may help prevent musty odors from entering it.
Serving temperature:
Different wines need to be served at different temperatures
| Sparkling / Sweet | 4 – 6 C |
| Light White / Rose | 6 – 8 C |
| Heavy White | 8 – 12 C |
| Light Red | 12 -14 C |
| Heavy Red | 15 – 18 C |
| Fortified | 14 – 17 C |
Storage:
Wine Cooler/Refrigerator:
This will generally keep the temperature constant, as long as you’re not constantly opening and closing the door of the Cooler. Good humidity levels are maintained as well. Some have different temperature zones for different wines.
*Al Things Nice represents many Wine cooler companies and we can fulfil all your wine cooler
There is a large range of glasses that can be used for service of wine which comes of different shapes and sizes with each designed to emphasize a particular wines characteristic. The use of the correct wine glasses enhances the drinking experience. There are different types of glasses the common few are:
Red wine
Red wines are best served in larger sized glasses which allow air to come in contact with the wine at a larger surface which helps to develop the aromas and flavours, also aromas are easier to smell when the wines are swirled around.
White and Rose wine
White and Rose wines require medium sized glasses so that the fresh, fruit characteristics are gathered and directed towards the top of the glass
Sparkling wine
Sparkling wines are served in Flute glasses. Flute is a stem glass with a tall, narrow bowl. This shape enhances the effect of the bubbles allowing them to travel the larger area of the wine before bursting out at the top of the glass which helps the bubbles to stay for a longer period of time
Fortified wine
Fortified wines should be served in small glasses to emphasise the fruit characteristic rather than the alcohol
Preparing glassware
Clean glassware is of the uppermost importance as even the slightest taint can ruin the wine. Even glass washing machine ‘clean’ glasses need to be checked to make sure no detergent residues remain in the glass as they can give strange flavours to the wines, where in case of sparkling wines it may make them lose their sparkle quickly.