Move over pomegranate, pear and açai, there’s a new mixer on the block. Trend-setting mixologists on the East and West Coasts have set their sights on wine, adding the stuff – both straight from the bottle and boiled down to a syrup – to all manner of cocktails. But, like most trends, wine cocktails aren’t entirely new; after all, fortified wines like vermouth, that staple of the classic martini, have been used in drinks for over a century. And anyone who recalls the ’70s likely drank a white wine spritzer or two (loath though they might be to admit it), just as anyone who’s been in a bar in the last few years has likely enjoyed a Champagne cocktail of some sort.

In Europe, wine cocktails are more tradition than trend. In Spain, for example, sangria – considered by many American quaffers to be Spain’s most famous libation – isn’t ordered in bars. Instead, the Spanish reach for tinto de verano, or red wine of summer, a mix of red wine and lightly sweetened soda water. Variations abound, with additions ranging from lemonade or orange soda to Coca-Cola.

Wine cocktails aren’t on many St. Louis menus yet, but they are available. In addition to a host of Champagne-centered creations, bartenders at Wapango in Chesterfield serve up spritzers and a wine-based version of the Mimosa. And, in keeping with the authentic Spanish flavors on its menu, Modesto offers several versions of tinto de verano as well as a few other concoctions made with wine that are perfect for summertime sipping. ¡Salud!

Limonada Madrilena (pictured at left)
Courtesy of Modesto’s Roxanna Ratossa

If built properly, this drink has a layered look that makes
for a nice presentation. “But it tastes better if you mix it up before drinking it,” Ratossa said.

1 oz. gin
Splash of Sprite
2 to 3 oz. sour mix
1 oz. peach purée (recipe follows)
1½ oz. red wine

• Pour the gin, Sprite and sour mix into a glass.
• Fill the glass with ice and then spoon the peach purée on top of the ice.
• Top off the drink with the red wine.
• Serve with a stir stick and stir before drinking.

Peach Purée

2 cups frozen peaches (fresh peaches, peeled, pitted and roughly chopped, can be used)
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup brandy
3 Tbsp. sugar

• Poach the peaches by placing them in a saucepan with the wine, brandy and sugar and bringing the mixture to a boil.
• Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
• Transfer the peach mix to a blender and purée until smooth.
• This mixture will keep for about a week in the refrigerator.

Mimosa De Frambuesa
Courtesy of Wapango’s Jenny Weinman

“A good wine is key; you get the best flavor that way,”
Weinman said. “We use a sparkling brut, but you can use a sweet, nonsparkling wine, like a Riesling.”

4 oz. sweet white wine* or sparkling brut
¾ oz. Absolut Kurant vodka
¾ oz. Chambord
Fresh raspberries for garnish

• Fill a wine or a hurricane glass with ice.
• Add the wine, the vodka and the chambord.
• Top off with a few fresh raspberries and serve.

* If using a still wine, consider adding a splash of lemon-lime soda to add some fizz.

Rebujito
Courtesy of Modesto’s Roxanna Ratossa

These wine cocktails “have a little more complexity than a white wine spritzer does,” Ratossa said. “[In the Rebujito,] the Sprite brightens the raisiny, nutty flavors of the sherry.”

1 oz. Fino sherry
3 oz. Sprite
Lemon twist for garnish

• Fill a rocks glass with ice.
• Add the sherry and Sprite and stir.
• Garnish with a lemon twist.