wine tip

The Holidays are quickly approaching as we speak. For many people
myself included
memories of Thanksgivings
Christmases
and New Years Eves past cross their minds. Some of those memories are of a certain sparkling wine
called Cold Duck. As the old familiar songs play in the background
the winter chill whips though us and nearby homes are illuminated in their bright
colorful holiday glory
some of us will look back fondly on this beverage
remembering it from many special occasions such as birthdays
Christmas and New Years Eve. You may even remember with nostalgia
the commercials from the 1970's
of a happy couple toasting the holidays with a glass of Cold Duck
with a cheerful Christmas carol playing in the background.

You might think that Cold Duck sounds more like a dinner recipe than a beverage. Or
you may cringe at the thought of a bottle of Cold Duck
since it is one of the cheapest wines on the market
at only a few dollars per bottle. Cold Duck doesn't carry the same sophistication as some of the other sparkling wines on the market
such as Dom Perignon or other champagnes. But Cold Duck was at one time one of the best selling and most popular sparkling wines in the United States. Cold Duck is still readily available at your local grocery store for only a few dollars a bottle. Compare that to the hefty price of a bottle of Dom Perignon champagne
which can be well over $100 a bottle.

Cold Duck originated in Germany
where it can be traced to the common practice in Bavaria of mixing cold
sparkling Burgundy with bottles of previously opened Champagne. This mixture was knows as kalte ende (cold end). This custom kept the opened bottles of champagne from being wasted
and it also provided people with a tasty beverage at the same time. Over time
the name became transliteraeed to kalte ente
which translates to cold duck. In 1937
the owner of the Pontchartrain Wine Cellars in Detroit
Harold Borgman
invented his own beverage based on this Bavarian custom.

Cold duck experienced a sizable surge of popularity in the early 1970s
being a very popular wine for parties and gatherings. With it's soft concord grape base
Cold Duck is mixed with a combination of sweet red and white wines. The original American Cold Duck combined one part of a California red wine with two parts of a New York sparkling wine. This exact recipe varies today. One of the best known brands of Cold Duck is Andr้
from the E&J Gallo Winery
which uses Concord grapes for their recipe. In 1971
only four short years after Andr้ Cold Duck was introduced to the public
the E&J Gallo Winery was selling two million cases of the wine every year. Like many white wines and sparkling wines
and unlike most red wines
Cold duck is best served chilled. It goes great with party hors d'ouvres
like cheese and crackers or olives in a pastry crust.