In “Drink to your health with pomegranates,” the Chronicle’s Leah Greenstein discusses the nutritional benefits of pomegranates and their growing inclusion behind the bar in fancier drinkeries. Many of the cocktails described therein sound good, but this one–oh man:

At Santi in Geyserville, the Regina Viola, or Purple Queen, illustrates the pomegranate’s flexibility. Though essentially a fall fruit — the pomegranate’s season is from August through November — it makes for surprisingly refreshing warm-weather drinks. The Regina Viola blends the clean flavors of muddled lemon balm and spearmint, tart Meyer lemon juice, house-made limoncello, pomegranate juice and citrus vodka for a complex and beautiful cocktail.

I’ll take two please. The article includes the drink’s recipe, and after our impending cocktail party (this Saturday), I plan to make some limoncello, which I’ll put to good use in trying to re-create this drink at home (assuming we can still get Meyer lemons, which seem to have gone out of season).

Also of note here is a description of Charbay’s upcoming pomegranate vodka, which sounds like a winner to me. I still can’t get over how much I enjoy their clear vodka, and I’m eager to test out their flavored offerings.