STLtoday.com wrote:Alcoholic ice cream is a hit at Taste of Clayton
By Shane Graber
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/02/2008
Clayton — As far as outdoor festivals on a warm, sunny day go, one item drawing a steady line at Taste of Clayton might have been the ideal combination.
Frost on the Vine, a Chesterfield ice cream and gourmet foods store, was selling wine ice cream.
It was cold, creamy — and 5 percent alcohol content.
"Eat an ice cream, catch a buzz," joked Blase Bottcher, of St. Louis, just after tasting a spoonful. "What a deal, huh?"
Bobby Watson, a co-owner of Frost on the Vine, has sold the wine ice cream — made by Mercer's, based in upstate New York — for a year.
"It's the only ice cream we're aware of that you have to be 21 to eat it," Watson said.
A pint of the wine ice cream is equal in alcohol content to a glass of wine, Watson said. It sold Sunday for $2.50 a scoop — and a sign at the booth notified customers that proper identification was required.
Delycia Daggs of Ferguson, who enjoys an occasional drink, preferred the Red Raspberry Chardonnay. "It's got a little tang to it," she said. "And when it melts in your mouth, you can taste the liquor."
Daggs' mother, Vee Lee of Jennings, isn't big on alcohol. But at her daughter's urging, she tried a scoop. She could taste the wine in the ice cream. And she liked it.
"This is my first time" to Taste of Clayton, Lee said. "And what a way to start it off."
The annual Taste of Clayton in Shaw Park raises money for St. Vincent's Ministry to the Poor, Lift for Life and the city's parks foundation.
Tracy Thomas, an event board member, said organizers were expecting a larger crowd than last year — when an estimated 30,000 people attended — to visit the more than 30 food and drink booths. The event also featured fireworks, and live music from 1:30 p.m. until 9 p.m.
The wine ice cream booth drew a crowd all afternoon. Passers-by commented on the idea as they walked by. Flavors included peach white zinfandel and royal Riesling.
Among the tasters: Vincent Wright and Stacy Williams, both self-described "wine heads." Williams prefers a sweet wine. The Riesling ice cream stood up.
"It's good," Wright said. "It's a real ice cream instead of an Icee or something like that."
The taste of wine in the ice cream was subtle, Bottcher said.
"I don't know if you need an ID for it," he said. "But it's good."
sgraber@post-dispatch.com | 618-624-2571
