Update: I realised that the finalists in fact did not go to France to compete for a final one winner, but rather to have a good time. So the videos where the actual competition. Check out the articles on Cocktail Lovers to see what the finalists where up to.
The global final of G’Vine Perspectives will take place next week in France; and this is a good opportunity to present the ten finalists and their entries. Across the board, it was interesting to see how many entries used different wine-based ingredients, most notably sherry, but also wine-syrups, aperitifs and, of course, my beloved Rin Quin Quin. Against this back-drop, this made the few drinks that didn’t use any stand out more, most notably Sean’s take on a Southern Exposure. At the same time, I’m a bit disappointed at how some participants failed to establish a credible connection between their inspiration and the cocktail.
If I had to put my bet, I would bet on Sean, Nathan and Soran; but I wish all the competitors best of luck!
Tom Egerton, Eau de Vie, Australia
- 40 ml G'Vine Floraison
- 30 ml Pinot Grigio
- 10 ml Poire William
- 10 ml Wolfschmidt Kummel
- 3 drops malic acid solution
- Throw and serve in wine glass, garnish with flower
Sean Frederick, Townsman, USA
- 30 ml G'Vine Floraison
- 20 ml fresh celery juice
- 15 ml lime juice
- 10 ml simple syrup
- 5 ml mezcal
- 2.5 ml Combier Kümmel
- 2 dashes Bittermens Celery Shrub
- Shake, serve on the rocks in tumbler, rimmed with smoked celery salt.
Martin Gouguet, Hotel Christopher, Guadeloupe
- 60 ml G'Vine Floraison
- 20 ml wine syrup (Tarriquet, sugar, nutmeg, coriander seeds, long pepper)
- La Quintinye vermouth for rinsing
- Rinse mixing glass with vermouth. Stir gin and syrup, and serve in coupette. Lime twist, garnish with ginger and lime zest.
Besides that, the drink seems quite decent; expanding the botanicals of the gin with some more in the wine reduction. However, cooking wine is usually a bad idea because it will oxidise; so I wonder if by mere infusion or a N2O quick infusion might preserve the brightness of the wine. Finally, drinks like this that have nothing to balance out the sweetness tend to fall apart as soon as they warm up (as for example Remy Savage’s beautiful Paper Anniversary); so 60 ml seems a bit much.
Fernão Gonçalves, Casa de Pasto, Portugal
- 50 ml G'Vine Floraison
- 15 ml lemon juice
- 15 ml orange juice
- 20 ml egg white
- 1 heaped teaspoon moscovado sugar
- 2 dashes lavender bitters or Angostura
- 1 organic lavender flower
- 1 slice ginger
- 2 basil leaves
- Dry shake, then shake with ice. Serve on the rocks in tumbler, garnish with dried orange, lavender flower and basil leaf
Florian Drucks-Jacobsen, Liquid Bar, Germany
- 60 ml G'Vine Floraison
- 30 ml pineapple juice
- 15 ml aged cachaça
- 1 barspoon simple syrup
- 1 pinch salt
- Shake, strain into tea cup, garnish with edible flower
Also, while I like the name, nothing but the serving vessel ties it to the name and the inspiration, and a tea cup doesn’t really seem the right vessel for a tiki-drink. If the drink was hot, or at least had some tea in it, this would be a different story…
Jesus De Los Mozos, Dry 1862, Spain
- 40 ml G'Vine Floraison
- 10 ml La Quintinya Extra Dry
- 10 ml Lustau Fino Sherry
- 15 ml thyme infused Champagne cordial
- Shake, serve in flûte, garnish with dried lotus leaf brushed with grape oil.
Mirsini Spaneli, Boogie Bar, Greece
- 45 ml G'Vine Floraison
- 10 ml Lillet
- 20 ml lemongrass-elderflower syrup
- 20 ml lemon juice
- 2 dashes rhubarb bitters
- Stir, serve on big ice cube in tumbler. Garnish with jasmine leaves sprayed with jasmine oil.
Nathan O’Neill, Dandelyan, UK
- 40 ml G'Vine Nouaison
- 10 ml Tio Pepe Fino Sherry
- 10 ml Aperol
- 2 dashes Bittermens Boston Bittahs
- Stir and strain into coupette. Grapefruit twist.
Emma Andrew, Heads & Tales, Scotland
- 50 ml G'Vine Nouaisson
- 15 ml Rin Quin Quin
- 15 ml St. Germain
- 10 ml rosemary syrup
- 15 ml tartaric acid solution
- Stir and strain into coupette. Grapefruit twist.
Osvalso Vazquez, Thomson The Cape Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
- 40 ml G'Vine Floraison
- 15 ml Luxardo Maraschino
- 10 ml lime juice
- Stir, then strain into coupette smoked with red bloodwood root. Spray with cardamon tincture, and add ice sphere with red bloodwood root.
I also like how the recipe for the drink itself is very simple (it’s really a smoked Blue Moon), but everything fancy is in the presentation. It is a bit hard to say anything else, since I have never tasted the bloodwood root (which by the way is not native to Mexico, but to Australia), nor know about the bitters from the barrel.
But what I thoroughly dislike is the use of the ice sphere in the coupette; it reminds me of the times when it was okay to serve Chocolate Martinis on the rocks in a Martini glas. The sphere with the root looks very pretty, and in an elegant tumbler or even a wine glass it would have shined. And why would one stir this drink (apart from showing off the impressive tweezers), is beyond my comprehension.
Soran Nomura, Fuglen, Japan
- 30 ml G'Vine Nouaison
- 25 ml Manzanilla sherry
- 20 ml lemon juice
- 15 ml sage and green tea syrup
- 2 sage leaves
- Absinthe for rinsing the glas
- Shake, strain into absinthe rinsed coupette. Garnish with sage leaf.
