As I came up with ideas for the article this month I realized the first day of summer was quickly approaching, and I thought, what better way to celebrate summer than with wine spritzers! Every time I bring up wine spritzers I am met with a peculiar look of polite shock and mild disgust. So let me be clear. We are not talking about wine coolers, people. We are talking about the totally adaptable, refreshing, and amazing spritzer. You can class them up and serve them at your next summer soirée, dazzling people with lavender or St. Germain- or you can pick the ingredients up at your neighborhood convenience store in desperation on the hottest day of the year. You can make them bright, dry and crisp, or sweet and punch-like. You can make them for under 50¢ a glass, or spend $50 on a single mixer. These are not your childhood wine coolers.

One of the most important parts of a wine spritzer is having good soda water.  Good soda water is not based on brand alone, but the wise decision to buy appropriately sized bottles. You don’t need a 2 liter bottle of soda water for 1 bottle of wine, and using the same water over several days will only lead to a flat disappointment. Buy only what you will use in a day, or buy bottles small enough that you can open new ones on a daily basis. There are a variety of different types of soda water, make sure you are using “Soda Water” or “Club Soda”, as anything else will have a lot of minerals or sweeteners in.  Do not use Tonic Water.  One more time. Do not use Tonic Water. Tonic water has sweeteners and Quinine in it that do not mix very well with wine.

A classic wine spritzer is just white wine mixed with soda water, well chilled and refreshing. Depending on your wine choice, it can be incredibly dry or mildly sweet.  My general rule for making spritzers is 50/50, but you can always adjust it to be a little more boozy or a little more bubbly.  Generally, the idea is to give yourself something a little along the lines of a session beer, something tasty and refreshing you can drink all day without fear of a bad hangover in the morning.  From this base there are a couple of quick delicious things you can do to add a little flavor or color:

• Add frozen black berries or raspberries: as they melt they will float to the bottom of the cup and slowly release juice into the spritzer
• Muddle a few sprigs of fresh lavender or other herbs in the bottom of the glass
• Add a splash of Campari

All of these variations will give you a very dry fresh tasting spritzer.  My personal favorite is the lavender, which is just subtle enough to not taste soapy, but strong enough to compliment the wine.

A classic variation is to use St. Germain, sparkling wine and soda water. St. Germain is an elder flower liqueur that tastes remarkably like a lychee. It is incredibly sweet and should only be paired with a very dry sparkling wine like Cava. I generally use about 2/3 Cava, 1/3 soda water, with a splash of St. Germain. Depending on how sweet you like it, you can add more or less St. Germain.

From there, you can go just about anywhere. One of my favorite ways to make wine spritzers is with a variety of sparkling juices: pomegranate, blood orange, grapefruit (pairs well with a splash of Campari too), raspberry, anything you can imagine. And if the fruit juices are too sweet, you can add soda water to the mix to cut the sweetness of the juice. And once you get into new flavor combinations a whole new world opens up!  Below are two of my favorite recipes for wine spritzers: Blood Orange with Basil and Ginger Mint.

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of white wine
• 1 bottle of blood orange sparkling soda
• fresh basil

Method

• in the bottom of a glass or pitcher muddle a handful of basil leaves with a wooden spoon
• fill the glass or pitcher half full with wine and half full with blood orange soda
• add ice and serve!

Ingredients:

• Stones Original Ginger
• Soda Water
• White Wine
• Fresh cut ginger
• Fresh mint

Method:

• in the bottom of a glass or pitcher muddle the cut ginger and mint with a wooden spoon
• add a splash of Stones Original Ginger (for a sweeter drink add more)
• fill the rest of the glass or pitcher with half wine and half soda water
• add ice and serve!

Photographs by Rosey Lakos at roseylakosphotography.com.