Calimocho: Summer drink pick of 2012

Here again I cheated, not wanting to go through the super-sized soft drink saga once more. I happened to have single, small bottles of Mexican Topo Sabores grapefruit soda in my refrigerator, so I went with that. Then I picked up a bottle of Portuguese Santola Vinho Verde from Central Market for around $7 or $8, as I remember. This is a non-vintage white wine that is crisp and citrusy with a little spritz of its own; again, you could toss in some cubes and suck it down with no regrets — especially as the alcohol content is a modest 9 percent. But mixed half and half with the Topo (I squeezed a quarter of lime into the glass and dropped in the cask), the effect was lighter, even friendlier — and certainly more beachy than the Coke model. This I would drink. And I suspect it would be good as well with the Sprite. Or with a cheap Kiwi sauvy.*

But why stop here? The mind races with other possibilities. How about a Pepper 'n' pinot? The herbal qualities of each should play well together. (I'm only somewhat kidding here.) Then there's the quintessential South Texas cooler: Big Red 'n' rosé. Or white zin. OK, this time I really am kidding, but at least the colors sorta match, and a lot of lemon might help. Probably not enough, though. •