3 Ways with Wine Spritzers

There is a point every August when temperatures hover around triple digits and your daily agenda is stocked with indoor, air conditioned activities. Just the thought of going outside fills you with dread. This is the same time that the thought of grilling another burger or barbecued chicken leg seems like a chore. When this happens, no-cook salads replace heavier summer fare like hotdogs and grilled sausages and lighter, more refreshing alternatives to hot weather drinks like micheladas or sangrias are on the brain.

These days are also the perfect time to turn your beverage menu towards spritzers. A spritzer, a light, summertime drink made with any combination of wine or fruit juice and soda water, tastes like summer in a glass. The word spritzer comes from the German word spritzen, which means ‘spray’ or ‘sprinkle’, an appropriate designation for this summer cooler. Once soda water is added to your favorite combination of wine and summer-ripened flavors, bubbles of strawberry and basil, peach and ginger and cooling cucumber leap off of all available drink surfaces, subtly perfuming the air. 

And while technically you could use spirits as a spritzer base, Spanish and Latin-American regions produce a plethora of great wines to experiment with. Crisp white wines like Torrentés from Argentina pair well with traditionally more savory flavors, like cucumber, jalapenos and cilantro, but also provide a great base for tropical fruit, like mango and pineapple. Dry rosados (rosés) from Spain can handle the sweeter flavors of summer stone fruits like peaches, nectarines and plums, while Spanish cava benefits from tart berries to draw out crisp, bubbly complexes.

Some wine enthusiasts would scoff at pairing up some of the best Spanish and Latin American-produced wines with water and other ingredients that dull the taste, consider this quote from CJ and PK, authors of the critically acclaimed wine blog Sediment, regarding the wine and soda water combo: 

“Yes, it diminishes the wine – but it certainly enhances the water.”

Enjoy!

Next, three refreshing wine spritzer recipes…

Rosé Peach Spritzer 

• 1 1-inch piece ginger, chopped into four pieces
• 3 peaches
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 bottle dry rosé
• 1 12 oz can seltzer water
• ice

Get the full recipe. 

Cucumber Mint Spritzer with Torrontés

• 1/2 large cucumber, peeled and finely diced
• two tablespoons chopped mint
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup St. Germain
• 1 bottle chilled Torrontés or other dry white wine
• 1 12 oz can seltzer water
• ice

Get the full recipe.

Strawberry Basil Smash with Cava

• 4-5 large, ripe strawberries, washed and chopped fine
• 4-5 big basil leaves, washed and chopped fine
• 2 tablespoons honey
• balsamic vinegar
• 1 bottle Cava
• ice

Get the full recipe.