I love a good glass of wine . . . especially a nice glass of dry cabernet or syrah. But sometimes those heavy red wines and the summer heat are not compatible.
Enter the wine cocktail!
Recently, our partner St. Clair Wine graciously gave me a few bottles to taste test, which I turned into summer sipping wine cocktails. And I can’t wait to share those recipes with you.
All three of the wines are lovely on their own. But creating a wine cocktail is something a little special for when friends are coming over or I just want to treat myself.
So without further ado, three summer wine cocktail recipes for your tasting pleasure.
Three-Ingredient Frosé
Confession time. I’m not sure how I came of age with the rest of you elder millennials and just really don’t like rosé. Judge away. It’s usually too sweet for me. However, I love St. Clair’s rosé because it has hints of grapefruit, which tone down the sweetness. This wine is lovely on it’s own, but let’s turn it into a slushy and I am smitten. Mom tip, buy your kids popsicles before enjoying this treat in front of their eyes.
INGREDIENTS
(serves 4-6 depending on the size of your pour)
1 bottle St. Clair Rosé
8 large strawberries (washed, stemmed, and halved)
1 tablespoon honey
DIRECTIONS
- Remove the tops of the strawberries and cut them in half.
- In a blender, blend 3/4 of the bottle of rosé, strawberries, and honey until smooth and fully combined. Then pour the mixture into a covered baking dish.
- Cork the remainder of the rosé and chill for later.
- Transfer the baking dish to the freezer and freeze at least 6 hours or overnight. (The alcohol in the mixture will keep it a slushy texture instead of freezing solid.)
- To serve, scoop the mixture into glasses and pour a splash of the remaining wine into each glass. Garnish with a strawberry if desired.
This would pair well with a spinach salad or pesto pasta.
Classic Red Sangria
This Cab-Zin blend from St. Clair. might just be my favorite from their collection. It has some lovely cherry notes. 5 stars. Highly recommend. And then let’s do go channel our New Mexican Spanish roots and make a sangria the way they do in Spain. That means no Sprite or Ginger Ale. I mean it. Just no. Don’t do it.
INGREDIENTS
(serves 4-6 depending on the size of your pour)
1 orange
1 apple
1 lemon
3 tablespoons sugar
1 bottle chilled St. Clair Cab-Zin
¼ cup brandy
DIRECTIONS
- Chop the orange, lemon, and apple (leave the peel on) into bite-sized chunks, then add them to the bottom of a pitcher. Sprinkle them with sugar and stir. Let them stand for 20 minutes at room temperature.
- After 20 minutes, pour in the red wine and brandy. Stir and refrigerate 1 to 4 hours. (Don’t go beyond 4 hours or the fruit texture starts to degrade.)
- Pour the sangria into ice filled glasses. Add fruit to each glass with a slotted spoon. You can even serve with skewers for easy snacking.
Pair with something spicy like guacamole complete with jalapeños or something light like a cheese board.
White Wine Spritzer
This is definitely the easiest wine cocktail on the list, but probably my favorite. It’s just that refreshing. If you are sitting outside on a lovely New Mexico summer evening, you’re gonna want to add bubbles to a delicious white wine to make the ideal summer drink. St. Clair’s Pinot Grigio is a gem of a white wine with pear, apple, and pineapple notes. And it’s not too sweet.
INGREDIENTS
(serves 4-6 depending on the size of your pour)
1 bottle chilled St. Clair Pinot Grigio
1 bottle chilled club soda
lemon peel for garnish (if desired)
DIRECTIONS
- Pour a mixture of 3/4 wine and 1/4 club soda. It’s totally fine to eyeball this.
- Garnish with a twist of lemon. This is totally unnecessary. But it does make things a little more special and a little more beautiful. And can’t we all use more of that? Not to mention, I love to smell the lemon when I’m sippin’ a spritzer.
Pair with BBQ pork or al pastor with pineapple salsa.
Thanks to St. Clair Wine for sponsoring this post. For nearly 40 years, St. Clair wines have been crafted in the stunning high deserts of southern New Mexico.
Some might think growing grapes in the desert is impossible. But the Lescombes family are sixth-generation winemakers that know the lands of southern New Mexico offer the perfect alchemy of sun, soil, and soul for grapes that perfectly distill the essence of New Mexico into a glass of wine.
Their selection of award-winning red, white, and sparkling varietals offers wine drinkers a taste of New Mexico unlike any other.