These Wine Cocktails Will Remind You of Somewhere Sunny
Whether you're making spring break plans or daydreaming of traveling somewhere sunny, you can always bring the good vibes to a staycation on your couch – with these delicious wine cocktails of course!
Remember, vacation is a state of mind. So run to the store (heck, have your groceries delivered!), grab a mixer, and pour yourself a big fat glass of somewhere warmer.
From mojitos and frozen rosé to spiked iced tea and spritzes, these wine cocktails will give you toes-in-the-sand vibes from the comfort of home.
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Image courtesy of Bon Appetit
Rosé-Aperol Spritz
Rosé-Aperol Spritz or springtime in a glass?
Ingredients
Makes 4-6 servings
- ¾ cup chilled passion fruit juice
- ¼ cup Aperol
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- 4 teaspoons sugar
- 1 750ml bottle sparkling rosé, chilled
- Ruby red grapefruit wedges (for serving)
Pour passion fruit juice, Aperol, lime juice, and sugar into a pitcher and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Stir in rosé. Serve in a large wine glasses over ice. Garnish with grapefruit wedge.
Image courtesy of The Spruce Eats.
Elderflower Cocktail with Champagne or White Wine
Also known as the St. Germain cocktail, this elderflower-inspired wine cocktail is easy, breezy, and refreshing.
Ingredients
- 2 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
- 3 oz Champagne (or any dry sparkling wine)
- 1 oz club soda or soda water
- Lemon twist
Chill your glass and gather the ingredients. Then pour the liqueur and Champagne over ice, top with club soda, stir well, and garnish with a lemon peel twist.
Image courtesy of The Spruce Eats
Black Velvet
If you’re a beer drinker, you’ll love this unique wine cocktail that combines Champagne and stout. Yep, you read that right. Beer and champagne is an unlikely combination, but take our word for it, this drink has been around for centuries and doesn’t disappoint. Legend has it the Black Velvet Cocktail was created to mourn Queen Victoria’s husband when he passed in the mid-1800s.
Bonus points if the stout is Guinness - the combination somehow tastes like a sunny day in Ireland.
Ingredients
- 4 oz chilled Champagne or sparkling wine
- 4 oz chilled stout beer
Fill your wine flute halfway with Champagne. Slowly fill to the top with stout.
Image courtesy of Alex Lau and Bon Appetit
Frosé
This Frozen rosé recipe takes some preparation, but boy is it worth it. Sip this refreshing frozen drink on your patio, at a picnic at the park, or even posted up in front of your TV. We don't judge.
Ingredients
Makes 4-6 servings
- One 750 ml bottle hearty, bold rosé
- ½ cup sugar
- 8 oz strawberries, hulled, quartered
- 2½ oz lemon juice
Pour rosé into a pan and freeze until almost solid. Bring sugar and ½ cup water to boil, add strawberries, remove from heat, and let sit. Strain the mixture, then add your strawberry syrup, frozen rosé, lemon juice, and crushed ice to a blender. Mix and serve.
If you’re all about the Frosé life, check out our other favorite frozen rosé recipes!
Image courtesy of The Spruce Eats
Moscato Ginger Iced Tea Cocktail
If you ask us, this unique combination of Moscato wine and ginger encompasses porch sipping to a tea. Best served in mason jars, this spiked iced tea is the kind of drink that’s meant to be enjoyed with friends while swapping stories and bellowing with laughs.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cup peeled and sliced ginger
- 2½ qt. fresh brewed iced tea
- 1 bottle Moscato (a sparkling Moscato d'Asti will also do the trick)
- Candied ginger garnish
Bring one cup sugar and one cup water to a boil. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, add the thinly sliced ginger and let sit. Strain the ginger syrup mixture, then combine the syrup and tea and let it chill in the refrigerator. Fill your glass (or jar) with ice, pour in ginger tea, then top with about ¼ cup moscato. Serve with candied ginger garnish.
Image courtesy of Bon Appetit
The Jimmy Roosevelt
Don’t be fooled - since the first record of its creation in 1939, this cocktail has packed a punch. Not for the faint of heart, the Jimmy Roosevelt incorporates a unique liqueur, Chartreuse, as well as Cognac and Champagne.
Ingredients
- 1 sugar cube
- Angostura bitters
- 2 oz Cognac
- 2 oz Champagne or sparkling wine
- ¼ oz Chartreuse liqueur
Soak a sugar cube with bitters in a coupe glass. Add Cognac, top with Champagne or sparkling wine, and drizzle with Chartreuse. Add ice.
Image courtesy of The Spruce Eats
Champagne Bowler
Three grapes are better than one. This brandy wine cocktail is a classic dating back to at least the 1930s. You’ll need Cognac, white wine (we recommend our Wellfleet Chardonnay), and sparkling wine to bring this strawberry bowler to life.
Ingredients
- 3 sliced strawberries
- 1/2 oz simple syrup
- 1/2 oz Cognac
- 1 oz white wine
- 4 oz sparkling wine
- Strawberry garnish
Muddle the strawberries and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker, fill the shaker halfway with ice, add the Cognac and white wine, and shake well. Pour the contents into a wine goblet (do not strain), and top with sparkling wine and a strawberry garnish.
Image courtesy of Bon Appetit
White Wine Mojito
The tropical mojito, with a wine twist. For this wine cocktail, you’ll swap the rum for white wine, but keep the fresh mint. We recommend our Strange One Sauvignon Blanc or Jumble Sale Riesling.
Ingredients
- 1 750 mL bottle of white wine (Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Grigio)
- 2 cups Italian sparkling lemonade
- 3 limes (2 juiced, one for garnish)
- 1 cup of fresh mint
- Optional: sugar to taste
Make sure both the Italian lemonade and the white wine are chilled to start. Mix the lemonade and wine, then juice two limes into a pitcher. Right before serving, mince ¾ cups of mint (fresh mint makes all the difference!) and add to the pitcher. Sugar to taste. Serve over ice and garnish with a sprig of mint and lime.
Image courtesy of The Spruce Eats
Fresh Pear Martini
This Pear Martini is the epitome of spring - light, refreshing, and floral. You can even make your own pear vodka by infusing vodka with pears a few days before.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ oz elderflower liqueur (St. Germain)
- 1 ½ oz pear vodka
- 1 ounce sparkling wine
- Superfine sugar for the rim
If you’d like, use a lemon or lime to wet the rim and sugar your rim with superfine sugar. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice, elderflower liqueur, and pear vodka. Shake, strain into a martini glass, and top with sparkling wine. You can also add a pear or lemon garnish to elevate the look of the drink.
In Vino Finito
We hope these 9 wine cocktails have brought some sunshine to your day. Do you have some favorite warm weather wine cocktails? Share it in the comments below!
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