It's spritz season and you're looking to sip on something refreshing and full of flavor. Look no further than the red wine spritzer. This part red wine, part soda water will give you all the punchy red fruit flavor you're craving while being utterly thirst-quenching and light.
Red Wine Spritzer Recipe
Pleasantly and dangerously easy to pull together, this red wine spritzer is the perfect way to incorporate red wine into breezy summer evenings on the deck. Don't forget the garnish!
Ingredients
- Ice
- 4 ounces red wine
- 2 ounces soda water
- Orange slice
Instructions
- Fill a wine glass with ice.
- Pour your chosen chilled red wine over ice.
- Top will chilled soda water.
- Stir and garnish with an orange slice.
Citrus is a great option for a garnish that will make the drink pop. A wedge of lemon, a round of orange, blood orange, or grapefruit all add that little something extra to your spritz.
Variations
You can also vary your spritzer to make it your own.
- Reduce wine to 3 ounces and add one ounce of Campari or Aperol.
- Use lemon-lime soda or ginger ale in place of the soda water.
- Add 2-3 dashes of cocktail bitters.
- Change the ratio of wine to soda water to your own taste. Instead of the 2:1 ratio of wine to soda, try 1:1 or even 1:2 for a lower-alcohol spritzer.
- Use cola in place of the soda water.
A red wine spritzer made with equal parts red wine and cola is a Spanish drink called a calimocho or kalimotxo. It's popular in Spain's Basque Country.
What Is a Spritzer?
Spritzers can be any combination of wine, bitters, and soda water served over ice. From the popular Aperol spritz to the bicicletta, these wine-based cocktails are the epitome of easy-going and refreshing. Splashed over ice and perhaps garnished with a wedge of citrus or sprig of mint, spritzers are your go-to drink for beach days, day-drinking affairs, and pre-dinner libations. Thanks to the soda water, they aren't heavy or overwhelming, making it inevitable that you'll opt for round two.
The Red Wine Spritzer
A red wine spritzer is just what it sounds like - red wine and soda water over ice garnished any way you want.
The Best Red Wines for a Spritz
You want to go with varietals that are aromatic and have full fruit flavors, but aren't defined by heady tannins. Great options include:
- Pinot noir
- Grenache
- Mencia
- Schiava
- Sangiovese
- Gamay
Already highly drinkable with mouth-watering acidity, juicy berry, and intoxicating aromas ranging from candied cherry to bubble gum, these reds play up that party vibe when turned into a spritz.
When you're choosing your bottle of red for the spritz, don't skimp on quality just because you're going to dilute it. Your drink will be just as sub-par as the wine. Go for something you actually want to drink. Believe me, it will make your red wine spritz that much better.
Finding That Perfect Balance
When it comes to the ratio of red wine to soda water, you want to find that happy medium between alcohol, flavor, and bubbles. This is a personal preference, but it's good to start off with 2 parts wine to 1 part bubbles and go from there. If you're looking for something a little less boozy, you may end up backing off and finding a 1:1 ratio is a better match for you.
How to Serve a Red Wine Spritz
Spritzs are often served in a highball or a white wine glass. You can go this route or do whatever makes sense to you. A backyard barbecue is the perfect occasion to pull out your mason jar collection. Or, if at the beach, you might want to stick to a glass-free option. Nothing classier than a red Solo cup, right? Whatever glassware you go with, be sure it's big enough to hold a healthy amount of ice so you can achieve that desired chill factor.
Having a Party? Make a Spritz Station
While a spritz isn't something you are going to want to batch up beforehand, you can easily set up a fun, build-your-own spritz station that more than does the trick. Devote a section of the drinks table to a large cooler of ice with a scoop, a series of glasses, numerous bottles of red wine and soda water on ice, and a bowl of sunny orange rounds.
Spritz Forever and Always
A red wine spritz is the go-to drink when you're looking for something packed full of flavor that's refreshingly light and fizzy. It's playful and comes together just as easily as it goes down. So go find a bottle of pinot or similar and get spritzing.
