“So why ruin good wine?” was the question Spencer Christian asked me when I went on View from the Bay earlier this week when I was on his show. You can watch the segment by clicking here. My response is that you are hardly ruining it. You are actually repurposing it and making it accessible to more people. Wine-based cocktails also represent a meeting of the sommelier-mixologist minds to me. It represents an area where they are getting creative and playing nicely with each other.

They are also great for the holidays because you can put them in punch bowls and have your guests gather round. You can also get your friends in on the action by having them help you shake and muddle (as I did with dubious results on this segment of View from the Bay).

So please take a look at my Examiner.com column for a couple fun holiday recipes.