I buy Carlo Rossi Wine for the Bottle, do you?

[HalfPint]

LOL!

As I sit here trying to finish off the last 2 glasses of Carlo Rossi Burgundy (I typically use it for cooking, but I want this jug for some mead I'm going to make tomorrow), I can't stand drinking this crap.

What do you do with it? Do you drink it? Cook with it? Clean with it? Pour it down the drain?

 

[PDawg]

UGH! Might have got away with a good Sangria. If you add enough junk to it could be drinkable.

 

[ColonelForbin]

i let other people buy and drink it. once it is all gone i kindly ask for the bottle while handing person a glass of home brew. i then use the bottle for yeast starters, experimental batches ect.

 

[Hannable1975]

I buy it in the summer and put on ice on Fridays, then drink on sundays with sprite as a "cooler".

I kinda like it, for hobo wine.

 

[TomSD]

Bought a couple 96 oz bottles of organic apple juice from Henry's for like 3 bucks each. Perfect for starters. Pretty sad when I start looking at the containers instead of the products when I'm shopping.

 

[madipop]

If you don't know anyone who is Basque you probably haven't heard of this, but they make a drink called a kalimotxo (pronounced cali-macho I think) thats 1/2 red wine and 1/2 cola. I know it sounds wierd but it auactually tastes pretty good and definately packs a punch

 

[strat_thru_marshall]

carlo rossi sangria almost killed me. that night it caused my roommates to see my girlfriend (now wife) totally naked...for about 2 hours...while they tried to keep me from dying of alcohol poisoning.

 

[Tinga]

i've definitely thought about giving a terrible gift to someone is order to get the jug.

 

[ian-atx]

I just avoid drinking the rossi and buy the 1 gallon jugs from the LHBS.

 

[MVKTR2]

Ooooh this reminds me I need to get some of this and make a sangria! Sounds like a nice experiment mixing Sprite/Rossi in a keg... or even making sangria in a keg, lightly carbed! That said I've bought the organic 1 gal apple juice for the bottles in the past!

Schlante,
Phillip

 

[BrewVegas]

If you don't know anyone who is Basque you probably haven't heard of this, but they make a drink called a kalimotxo (pronounced cali-macho I think) thats 1/2 red wine and 1/2 cola. I know it sounds wierd but it auactually tastes pretty good and definately packs a punch

13 years ago I was in Spain for my junior year abroad. They had bars with Cali-mocho on tap. We drank the hell out of it. Good times!

 

[HerotBrewer]

Funny you mention it, I was planning on buying a couple bottles of CR this weekend... But what would I do with 2 gallons of subpar wine?

When friends have given us "wine in a box" before, we've mixed it with sprite. Never tried the Cola before.

 

[SankePankey]

Cali-mocho is supposed to have Orange Crush in particular, not just cola.... as far as I know. At least that's how they do it in Galicia. The 'cheap mans sangria'.

 

[HalfPint]

Wow, you guys have your opinions on Carlo Rossi wine. It's pretty bad IMHO, but it makes damn good beef bourginon.

 

[Cheaton]

Use for carlo rossi wine, you say? Buy a mother culture, dilute 1:1, make vinegar!

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I buy them. I use it for cooking. I can't drink the stuff. I don't particularly enjoy wine too much, so bad wine is out of the question.

I've recently discovered a couple of the stores around me sell apple juice in gallon jugs for about $3-4. It's easier to turn that into cider and enjoy it. The only downside is that the carlo rossi jugs are bigger than a gallon so you can ferment a gallon with a little bit of headroom and loose less to blow off..

 

[snowveil]

I buy sherry by the gallon every few months ago so I can use it for cooking. Can't stand to drink that stuff....

but yeah, the first glass jug that I acquired to make some cider was a Carlo Rossi Chianti

It wasn't *great*, but really, for the price it wasn't that bad. I was pawning the stuff off on everyone around to try to get the jug empty as quickly as possible

 

[DrJerryrigger]

the Chablis and Cabernet aren't that bad, I drink more of it than I'd like to admit and started long before I was brewing.
In a pint glass:
1 part cheap red wine
1 part ginger ale
1 part carbonated water (use less if dry wine)
ice if desired

 

[Stickshaker]

carlo rossi sangria almost killed me. that night it caused my roommates to see my girlfriend (now wife) totally naked...for about 2 hours...while they tried to keep me from dying of alcohol poisoning.

Wait, am I the only one who's going to ask you to elaborate on this one?

 

[devilishprune]

Wait, am I the only one who's going to ask you to elaborate on this one?

I thought about it, but it seemed a bit personal.



I do want to know though.

 

[Revvy]

I ask folks for their jugs, or I buy them for a buck at my homebrewshop. No need to drink that stuff.

 

[Revvy]

Wait, what?!?!?!?!?! Naked girlfirend and alcohol poisoning??? WHAT?

 

[Yooper]

Wow, you guys have your opinions on Carlo Rossi wine. It's pretty bad IMHO, but it makes damn good beef bourginon.

It definitely makes great bourguignon. It also works great for my special spaghetti sauce. I like the "burgundy" variety of CR for all of the recipes I make- even meatloaf. Today I'm doing a braised short ribs with tons of CR wine, some bay leaf, a little worchestershire sauce, other spices, onions, etc, and cooking that down.

The great thing that just happened to me is that the lady who runs my goat herd (long story, but it Michigan you can't buy raw milk, so we own part of a herd) has a HUGE quantity of CR jugs. Apparently her father-in-law drinks like three of those jugs a week, so we have more jugs than we can use for starters, wine, goat's milk, and so on. So now, we can buy the even cheaper BOX wines for cooking!

Although I have to admit that following the old adage, "Never cook with a wine you wouldn't drink" is good advice. I've actually cooked with great wine before, and it did make a big difference. But when you make venison bourguinon and it takes two bottles of burgundy, the cheap wine is the way to go.

 

[user 53515]

I just use the $5 1 gallon jugs from my LHBS for my 1 gallon test batches

 

[BeerWars]

It is rot-gut, but it makes a damn fine Sangria. That is all I got to say about that.

 

[BeerWars]

I just use the $5 1 gallon jugs from my LHBS for my 1 gallon test batches

You drill out the cap for an airlock?

 

[MVKTR2]

It definitely makes great bourguignon. Today I'm doing a braised short ribs with tons of CR wine, some bay leaf, a little worchestershire sauce, other spices, onions, etc, and cooking that down.

Got a link or care to share some bourguignon recipes?

It is rot-gut, but it makes a damn fine Sangria. That is all I got to say about that.

This is my feeling on it. Works great using a darker variety or mixing it with the Chablis ( I think it is) add half a can of pink lemonade, fresh squeezed orange juice to taste, & slices of whatever fruit you prefer. Voila... fairly good sangria, great to cut with soda water or even mix it in for a party.

Schlante,
Phillip

 

[Yooper]

Got a link or care to share some bourguignon recipes?

the BEST bourguignon recipe is Julia Child's in the book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking". I found it online here: http://www.oprah.com/food/Boeuf-Bourguignon but it looks a bit different. My recipe used about twice as much in the way of ingredients, but maybe this one is just adapted for this magazine.

 

[jpc]

One of the first things I learned about cooking with wine-- "If you won't drink it, don't cook with it". I'll err on the side of caution here...

 

[mlanoue]

Funny you brought this up. I just collcted eight empty jugs form my parents the other day. They go through one or two of them a week. My dad drinks the burgundy, my mom drinks the blush.

I don't buy the stuff myself, but I've had it over there plenty of times. The burgundy is no Bordeaux for sure, but I don't think it really has a bad taste to it. It's just pretty bland. It also seems a lot stringer than French wine.