Baby Pleasures Recalled

I am almost embarrassed to admit that in my youth, a long time ago, I drank Baby Duck, a soda pop wine. I’m not embarrassed to say that at my age I still enjoy root beer — now and then. Baby Duck not so much. My near-embarrassment about Baby Duck vanished when I learnt of its estimable pedigree in German wine-making techniques as reported by Sharon Tyler Herbst in the Food Lover’s Companion.

cold duck Originating in Germany, this pink sparkling wine is a mixture of CHAMPAGNE, sparkling BURGUNDY and sugar. Its origin is traced back to the Bavarian practices of mixing bottles of previously opened Champagne with cold sparkling Burgundy so the Champagne wouldn’t be wasted. This mixture was called kale ende (“cold end”); over the years ende transliterated to ente (”duck”). The wines used to make cold duck are often of inferior quality. The resulting potation is quite sweet with few other distinguishable characteristics.

Here is a picture of the merchandise marketed in Canada under the table label Baby Duck with its duckling depiction and its sparkling wine packaging.

Unravel the gold foil wrapping, pop a cork and the sweetness is yours. A grown up experience for teen tastes.

And so for day 1391
04.10.2010