Add Those Fizzy Drinks to Your Bad Wine
Adding Coca-Cola to wine isn’t new — it’s common in Spain , and even Tom Hanks sips diet cocaine — but can adding soda make bad wine better ? Could there finally be an easy way to save this liquid junk in a bottle? I drank a fair amount of mediocre and terrible wine to find out.
After reading a particularly touching article on Kitchn about adding grape soda to bad red wine, I was ready to give it a try. Although I feared—grape soda is disgusting—I saw the benefits. Many terrible red wines have the same problems: one note, tartness and wateriness. Adding fizz will add sweetness, fruity flavor (even artificial) and distracting soda. (Who doesn’t love carbonated drinks?) Plus, the addition of ice gives the drink a summery cocktail vibe.
I decided to run some tests. A blend of artificially flavored wine and fizzy drinks is best served in my favorite nasty New York glass. The pairings were: the worst cabernet I could stomach (sorry Yellowtail lovers, but oops) with grape soda; mediocre rosé with watermelon soda; and a good pinot noir with cherry soda. I ended up trying the reds twice to see if there would be a difference between cherries or grapes. It is important to note that all of these sodas were very cheap and so artificial.
Here are some of my most used wine accessories:
I am not a sommelier, but I do appreciate a good bottle of wine, and I would rather throw away a glass of vinegar flavor than force myself or others to drink it. I don’t usually drink sugary sodas, but I appreciate that the liqueur can make a cocktail better. Going into the tasting, I tried to change my mind and think of them more like cocktails than wine.
Let’s start with the good news. A mediocre rosé with cheap sweet watermelon soda was actually better. This added a bit of juiciness to the drink, a hint of the necessary sweetness, and the aroma of watermelon complemented the flavor notes without interrupting. I would suggest this drink to friends as a fun summer wine cocktail.
Pinot noir with cherry soda was also good. However, I have found that if I want to enjoy the bubbly aspect of soda, I need to add more soda. Unfortunately, then the artificial flavor of the soda will begin to mask the taste of the wine. Since the pino was fine on its own, the disguise of its taste made me sad. The grape soda was not good. It turns out that grape soda is so powerful that even a drop makes the whole drink taste like Jolly Rancher. Not in a good way.
Cabernet “Yellow Tail” could not be saved. Even after adding lots of ice and lots of grape soda, the astringent notes were always there. I had to add a lot of soda to make it tasty and at that point I was basically drinking soda with a drop of wine.
Should you pour soda into wine?
A little soda can enhance a wine cocktail if the flavors complement each other. Read the flavor notes on the wine label and choose a soda that reflects them. Try pink with watermelon, peach, strawberry, or citrus soda. Red wines can be paired with regular cola, cherry, vanilla or Dr. Pepper. White wines will be lovely and vibrant with grapefruit, lemon, peach, or pear soda. I don’t quite understand grape soda. Although wine is made from grapes, I don’t think it’s grape soda. It’s just that the taste takes over too quickly for me, but try it and see how you feel.
Be careful when adding the soda component as it can easily overwhelm the wine. Add ice to a glass, pour in five ounces of wine, and start adding the soda a little at a time. Taste. Evaluate. Add more soda if necessary.
If there is wine that I would drink on its own, then I would not use it in a soda cocktail. I’d rather just drink some wine. As for terrible wines: I’m sorry, but soda can’t save really terrible wine. On the other hand, bad wine can make your soda more alcoholic, if that’s what you want.