It should be thoughtful and purposeful with its choices of ingredients, creative in its approach and a little loose and improvisational in its style. An engaging cocktail shouldn’t make you think too hard, but it should surprise you on occasion.
Nick Siracusa, the brains behind the bar at downtown’s new international bistro Cocha, has struck that balance with his craft concoctions. Fresh out of Denver, where he helmed the popular food truck Taqueria Pacifica, Siracusa has worked closely with Cocha owners Saskia Spanoff and Enrique Pinerua to match his cocktail menu with the restaurant’s locally sourced, super-fresh kitchen.
As Siracusa muddles together pear and arugula in one moment and crushes ice with a mallet the next, he runs through the story behind some of the standouts on the menu. The Cocha Constellation is a bit like a “fizzy vodka Collins,” he explains, developed in honor of and named after a sculpture made of Mardi Gras beads on the restaurant wall, and we’ll be having the last of the blackberries in our Blackberry Sage Smash while Spanoff is around the corner buying more.
Each drink tastes intentional and spontaneous at the same time, and with menus changing by the season at Cocha, more cocktail creations await. For such a new restaurant, it seems Cocha has already found its voice. cochabr.com
MARCO FELLUGA
Collio bianco Just Molamatta 2015 $13
For those of you drawn to straightforward, crisp, food-friendly whites, this is for you. Produced in northeast Italy near the Slovenian border, Marco Felluga’s collio bianco is composed of chardonnay, pinot bianco, ribolla gialla and friulano grape varietals and is fermented exclusively in stainless steel vats. “There’s just a lot of bottled energy in this one,” Wallace says. “It’s fresh and bright and goes great with lots of different spring dishes and local ingredients.”
Pair it with:Crawfish cakes with red pepper cream, pan-seared grouper with kale and apple salad and teriyaki grilled chicken
HAHN
Pinot noir 2014 $12
Here’s an elegant pinot noir at a great price. “There’s warm fruit up front in this easy drinker,” Wallace says. The mouthfeel is silky and the tannins are soft, making it perfect for an evening of sipping and noshing on small plates. Be sure to let it open fully.
Pair it with:Roast chicken with wild rice, slow-cooker pork tacos, charcuterie board of smoked and cured meats, aged and fresh cheeses and quality breads and spreads
POLIZIANO
Rosso di Montepulciano 2014 $14
The grape varietals in this high-value bottle are 80% sangiovese and 20% merlot, resulting in a fruit-forward, full-bodied wine with plum and berry notes and Old World structure. It’s a great match for all sorts of sturdy pasta dishes and grilled meats.
Pair it with: Baked ziti, grilled pork loin with dried cherry sauce, lamb kebabs with sumac-dusted onions
This article was originally published in the February 2017 issue of 225 Magazine.
