Dictionary

cold duck en · NOUN

Etymology

Calque of German kalte Ente, from kalten Ende (“cold end”). Attested in English from the 1960s, see quotations below.

Meanings

1. (uncountable) A sparkling red wine, often made by blending champagne with red wine, sometimes with additional flavorings added.
   • Many young or new to the industry at last week’s party may have wondered what it was all about — the Beatles songs, the bright-eyed dancers, the re-introduction of a sparkling red wine called Cold Duck. 1997 June 22, Michale Brett, “Montana celebrations with Beatles and Cold Duck”, in Sunday Star-Times, Wellington, New Zealand, page E 10:
   • Thank you, Rosie, I now have a lovely image of your husband arriving at the Pearly Gates, with his swinging Safari Suit tucked under one arm, and a bottle of Cold Duck under the other, asking where the Fondue Party is. 2023 June 24, “Many of you wrote to me with your own tales of domestic crimes”, in The Mercury, Hobart, Tasmania, page 4:
   • I would like to give Cold Duck a special mention because it was discovered by me personally—along with some two million Detroiters who at that time were the only Americans who’d ever heard of or enjoyed it. 1966, Wines and Vines, volume 47, page 43:
   • “My family drank cold duck every Thanksgiving and, being a kid, I loved it. It was so sweet, so cheap, the kind of thing a kid could love,” she said. 2004 December 1, Virginie Boone, quoting Karen MacNeil, “Celebrate red: beyond the horror that was cold duck”, in Press Democrat, Santa Rosa, California, page D1:

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