Saturday, January 5, 2013

Announcing Mixology Monday LXIX: Fortified Wines

Fortified wines began, in large part, as a way to deal with the difficulties of shipping wine long distances in the holds of sailing ships. Without the rigorous sterilization that is possible today, wines would often spoil en route. However, increasing the alcohol concentration to around 20% ABV was enough to keep them from going off. Coincidentally, this also made it possible to age those wines for very long periods, increasing their richness and depth.

These wines held an important place in the ur-cocktails of punch and have continued on in cocktails proper, the personal punches of the past several hundred years. Though less common nowadays, sherry, port, and, to a lesser extent, madeira and marsala, all find their way into various mixed drinks.

For this month's Mixology Monday, I'd like to see what you all can do with these versatile wines. They can play many different roles - from taking the place of vermouths in classic drinks, to providing richness and sweetness in winter tipples, to serving as a base for lighter aperitifs. Whether forgotten classics or new creations, let's see what you can put together.

Here's the plan:

•Write up your thoughts and the recipe, take a picture, and post it on your own blog, Tumblr, or eGullet's Spirits and Cocktails forum. If you don't have any other way of posting, you can also email it to me.

•Make sure to include the MxMo logo, a link to the Mixology Monday page, and the announcement post. If you want to go back and add a link to the round-up post, it'd be much appreciated.

•Let me know about your submission, either by commenting on this post, tweeting to @cocktailchem, or emailing it to me via gmail at cocktailchem. Do all of this before midnight PST on January 21st so I can put the round-up together. Some slop will be allowed, but the sooner the better.

Thanks to Fred Yarm for keeping MxMo going and see you all back here on the 21st.

30 comments:

  1. vermouth is a fortified wine...

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  2. Try my attempt. "The Wheels of Zeus" (http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6088040748378857600#editor/target=post;postID=4339068824230116520)

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    1. Dustin, I think you meant to link to this page http://dunderandlees.blogspot.com/2012/08/wheels-of-zeus.html

      Thanks for your post.

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  3. Does Lillet count as a "fortified wine"?

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    1. Anything that is infused falls under the broader heading of vermouth.

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  4. thanx for hosting and choosing such a cool theme http://theshorterstraw.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/flippin-sicilian-for-mxmo-lxix/

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  5. thanks for the help, first time reposting, but damn is that a tasty drink.

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  6. Here you go Jordan, hope you enjoy. Cheers!

    http://shakestrainandsip.blogspot.com/2013/01/fortified-for-your-tasting-pleasure.html#!/2013/01/fortified-for-your-tasting-pleasure.html

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  7. Jordan, here is a sherry cocktail for mxmo. Cheers! http://noblexperiment.com/2013/01/08/mixology-monday-sherry-cocktails/

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  8. The Bone Luge team has devised a fortified wine cocktail specially designed for luging!
    http://www.boneluge.com/posts/mxmo-when-you-are-looking-to-luge/

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  9. Here is our entry. Thanks for hosting!

    http://putneyfarm.com/2013/01/18/weekly-cocktail-40-the-bamboo-cocktail/

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  10. Hi Jordan

    Here is my entry, Bon-Accord cocktail.
    http://maltypuppy.com/lang/en-en/2013/01/mixmo-lxix-fortified-wines-bon-accord/

    All the best and thanks for hosting!

    Alex

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  11. Click here. Or cut n paste this: http://dagreb.blogspot.ca/2013/01/mxmo-sherry.html?m=1

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  12. Thanks for hosting, Jordan! Here's my entry, with three (count'em, three) sherry cocktails:

    http://temperedspirits.com/2013/01/20/mxmo-lxix-fortified-wines-got-sherry/

    Cheers,
    Ian

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  13. http://spiritedremix.blogspot.com/2013/01/mixology-monday-lxix.html

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  14. Cheers for hosting jordan. http://cocktailsincardiff.tumblr.com/post/41047025566/sherrycobbler

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  15. Here is my humble entry:
    http://drinksburgh.blogspot.com/2013/01/mxmo-fortified-wines.html

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  16. Here's our entry for this month. The Pleasure Vampire. http://wp.me/p2Kswh-7j

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  17. Thanks for hosting! Here's my post for January: http://stirandstrain.com/2013/01/21/mixology-monday-smoke-on-the-vine-cocktail/

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  18. Great theme, thanks for hosting. Our submission, the Stepchild #2: http://measureandstir.com/2013/01/20/mxmo-lxix-january-21-2013-fortified-wines/

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  19. And Here we are! Thanks for hosting. It was a challenge but it yielded great results for us.

    http://ratedrcocktails.com/2013/01/21/mixology-monday-fortified-wine-portside-peril/

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  20. Mine's a little weird... Thanks for hosting.
    http://thepocketsquare.ca/2013/01/21/port-gin-sour-gel/

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  21. Hey Jordean, thank much for hosting, plenty of choices with this one...great theme-

    http://theventuremixologist.blogspot.com/2013/01/mxmo-fortified-wine.html

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  22. My contribution:

    http://concoctails.com/2013/01/21/the-kilted-heir/

    Thanks for hosting this month!

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  23. Yo Jordan—thanks for hosting! Here’s some Whispers of the Frost, http://foggedinlounge.blogspot.com/2013/01/mxmo-lxix-fortified-wineswhispers-of.html

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  24. Thanks for hosting! Here is my submission: http://the3archers.wordpress.com/2013/01/21/glogg-mixology-monday-lxix/
    Cheers

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  25. Too much of a squeaker for my taste, albeit I'm especially happy for the results: http://feu-de-vie.blogspot.com/2013/01/mixology-monday-january-2013-fortified.html

    Thanks for the challenge, sir! I feel I've done some of my best work with this MxMo!

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