Three Cocktails Made with Opulento, BCC's Port-Style Wine

Opulento, our Portuguese-style fortified wine, is a winter pour by default. Most people pull it out for cheese, chocolate, or a quiet glass after dinner in November.

I wanted to give it more reasons to come out of the cellar. The cocktail world has been moving toward lower-ABV drinks built around fortified wine and vermouth for years, and Opulento fits that brief beautifully. With its dark fruit, chocolate, almond, and orange peel character, it works as the spirit base in a cocktail or as the supporting voice behind gin.

Here are three drinks we developed with Cathy Casey, our long-time cocktail collaborator. Each one solves a different problem. The Opulento Royal is a brunch and aperitif drink. The Tutti Frutti is a summer sipper that is almost healthy. The Overdo is the after-dinner version, stirred and serious.

Chill everything before you start, including the Opulento.

Opulento Royal

A sparkling aperitif. Use Prosecco, Cava, or a good domestic sparkling wine. Save your Champagne for a different occasion.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Opulento
• 2 to 3 oz sparkling wine, well chilled
• A dash of orange bitters
• A twist of lemon
• Ice, optional

Method

1. Pour the Opulento into a chilled flute or coupe.
2. Top gently with the sparkling wine, holding the glass at an angle to preserve the bubbles.
3. Add a dash of orange bitters and a twist of lemon peel.
4. Add ice if you want it more diluted. Serve.

Tutti Frutti

A muddled-fruit highball. Almost healthy, full of berries, and easy to scale up for a crowd.

Ingredients

• 1/4 lime, cut into three wedges
• About 3 oz fresh strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries (or a mix)
• Crushed ice to fill the glass
• 3 oz Opulento
• Soda water to top

Method

1. Add the lime wedges and berries to a tall glass.
2. Muddle gently to release the juice without pulverizing the fruit.
3. Fill the glass with crushed ice.
4. Pour the Opulento over the ice.
5. Top with soda water to the level of the ice.
6. Stir briefly. Serve with a straw.

The Overdo

(Or the Overdue, if you have had one of those days.) A stirred, Negroni-adjacent drink. Serve in an old-fashioned glass over one large ice cube, or strain into a chilled coupe.

Ingredients

• 1 oz Opulento
• 1 oz gin
• 1/2 oz Campari
• 1/2 oz Amaro (any quality amaro you like)
• Wide piece of orange peel
• Ice

Method

1. Combine the Opulento, gin, Campari, and Amaro in a mixing glass three-quarters full of ice.
2. Stir until well chilled, about 20 to 30 seconds.
3. Strain over one large ice cube in an old-fashioned glass, or strain up into a chilled coupe.
4. Express the oils from a wide piece of orange peel over the top of the drink and drop the peel in.
5. Serve.

A Note on Opulento

The current vintage of Opulento is a Portuguese-style fortified wine from the Yakima Valley. We started making it in 2007 with the goal of producing a serious port-style wine in Washington. The aromatic profile is dark fruit, chocolate, almond, and orange peel, with the structure to hold up to spirits, bitters, and acidic mixers. It earned 93 points and a gold medal.

If you have an idea for a cocktail we have not tried, send it our way. The category is small and the experimentation is part of the fun.

Many thanks to Cathy Casey for the work on these recipes.

Brian Carter, Winemaker