I'll Take My Wine Black, Please

Two bitter flavors in one great package

By CHRIS NEEDHAM

Updated 1:30 PM EST, Fri, Oct 23, 2009

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Are you a caffeine addict? Yes? Good. Are you also an alcoholic? Yes? Great! Do you have more refined tastes than a vodka and Red Bull? Even better.

You can now thank America's (and the world's) wine industry for the latest trend in corked beverages: coffee-flavored wine.

We'll pause here to let most of you stop wincing.

Coffee-flavored pinotage wines (whatever the heck that means; our wine comes in a jug) are catching on. The flavor isn't necessarily new, even if the sensation is, says Wine Goggle:

"In 2001 winemaker Bertus Fourie was experimenting with yeasts and wood in the making of Pinotage when he noticed a distinctive mocha-coffee aroma and flavour in some of the batches he was playing around with. The experiments were bottled, and the success of Diemersfontein Pinotage due to its slight coffee undertones is history. The public loved it."

It does raise the question. Which kind of coffee? Does this taste like a dark Starbucks roast? Like a light Dunkin' Donuts drip? Like that pot that's been sitting on the convenience store burner since 7 a.m.? If only they could make it taste like Sanka.

Red wine with coffee flavors? Interesting. Wake us up when they make a gravy-flavored wine. Mmmm.

First Published: Oct 23, 2009 11:09 AM EST

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0 Comments

{"totSize":3,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_65785997","adminTags":null,"views":486,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"I'll Take My Wine Black, Please","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2543112,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"23 Oct 2009 20:51:29 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":3,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1121802","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Coffee and wine is nothing new. Italians have been drinking the mixture for who knows how long. It was tradition in my Italian family to mix wine with warm coffee on a cold winter day to drink after a good Italian meal. The concoction mentioned in the article sounds like a poor try at something similar. Try a cup of half red wine and half coffee this winter on a cold day. It will warm your heart."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_65785997","adminTags":null,"views":486,"createdBy":13864095,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"I'll Take My Wine Black, Please","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2543112,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"25 Oct 2009 20:14:46 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":3,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"fb_821388760","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1128464","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"As the author of the WineGoggle post, let me explain: this is not an Irish Coffee thing where wine is added to the Cup of Joe.<br>Pinotage is a grape that was cultivated for the first time in South Africa when a professor in viticulture crossed Pinot Noir with Hermitage to "invent" a new grape. In South African we have been making wine from this for decades. When the grape is fermented on wood, it takes on a very pleasing "coffee" flavour, but without neglecting the fine fruit balance of good wine. Look out for Cafe Culture and Barista and Diemersfontein, Pinotage wines with a slight natural coffee taste that is going to change the world!"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_65785997","adminTags":null,"views":486,"createdBy":13976293,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"I'll Take My Wine Black, Please","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":2543112,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"30 Oct 2009 06:49:06 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":3,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"aussiewinechick","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"1156519","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Thanks Facebook User for pointing out the misinformation - far from correct to assert that the world has America to thank for coffee Pinotage - or that the flavour owes to tipping coffee into wine! This is akin to saying that the cigar box profile of Cabernet Sauvignon owes to the addition of tobacco.<br>The category is attracting much interest in South Africa, America and Australia, with better examples of the wine drawing consumers of other alcoholic beverages, who can relate to the coffee nuances. I say bring it on! "}],"error":"","totPages":1}