"Motherly Love" - a Zinfandel based cocktail that missed Mother's Day by a mile!

All of which was completely my fault, so I apologise for not getting this completely and utterly divine concoction to you sooner.

However - and here's the bonus - I can't think of anything I'd rather drink on a summer's evening when the grasshoppers are chirping in the lawn, the day is cooling down and I'm sitting on the patio just watching the garden grow.

Barefoot Wine (@BarefootWine on Twitter) sent me a bottle of Zinfandel with which to make the cocktail in time for Mother's Day.  However, because of one thing and another, we just didn't get to it on the day itself - and then for quite a long time afterwards.

However, things settled down and making the "Motherly Love" became a target.  I'd bought a punnet of strawberries for our first (abortive) go, but they had been such hard, miserable strawberries that I was glad we didn't get to use them in the end.  (In fact, we ate them up by putting them into a jelly, which did the trick admirably).

Having had a bit of a moan about the state of these strawberries, @VivaStrawb contacted me and suggested I search out the Viva strawberry, as it was apparently one of the best of the early croppers.  I found some in our local Waitrose and although they hadn't got a patch on our mid-season British strawberries, they were flavoursome, sweet and soft - perfect for the "Motherly Love" (and we ate the remainder with vanilla ice cream, that's how nice they were!).

We'd even found the perfect glass for the cocktail.  Hubby is an inveterate trawler of local charity shops and found the perfect tulip shaped glass with a bevelled stem.  It really is beautiful - and when filled with "Motherly Love", the sight was enough to please even the most jaded of Mums.

This really is hubby's project, to be honest.  After all, he found the glass, sourced the props for the photograph, made the cocktail (including making the simple syrup) and took the photographs.  All I did was discover the strawberries and drink the end result!

But how was the end result?  What does a glass of "Motherly love" taste like?  Well, the first sensation to hit you is that it is very cold .. then very sweet .. and a zzzip! from the Zinfandel .. and the tang of strawberry and lemon, jostling for position .. all followed by the gently soothing coolness of cucumber.


If I'm honest, the gin didn't feature in the flavour profile at all.  However, I am quite sure it featured where the texture (or "mouth feel") of the drink was concerned.  You know how gin can have a certain oiliness?  Well, the drink has a longevity of flavour which I'm sure is carried by the gin and I can imagine that if you left the gin out of the recipe, the drink would very definitely miss it.


A quick word about the Zinfandel itself - now I have to admit to being at odds with most red wines and a lot of white wines, too.  However, with the discovery of Zinfandel, I've found a wine that I can both drink and enjoy.  Barefoot's Zinfandel is wonderfully light on the palate, with a sweetness that is tempered by the fruitiness and is very, very drinkable.  You can't ask more of a wine, than that!


So, getting back to the "Motherly Love", well, I'm a Mum - and I love it!  This is very definitely going to be on my drinks list once the weather warms up into summer.


MOTHERLY LOVE


Ingredients :


60ml Barefoot White Zinfandel (which is something of a misnomer, as it's pink!)
25ml gin
20ml lemon juice
3 strawberries
3 fine slices cucumber
20ml simple syrup
Lemonade
lots of ice.


Method :


1.  Muddle the fruits together (muddle = mash lightly) and shake all the ingredients, apart from the lemonade.


2.  Strain over cubed ice in a highball glass.


3.  Top up with lemonade and garnish with a cucumber slice and strawberries.


Serve.