Wine Cocktails
Red Wine Hot Chocolate
Do you crave a rich and delicious mug of hot chocolate? Do you want to kick your hot chocolate up a notch or two? It’s time you tried out this lusciously chocolaty delight.
Ingredients (make two servings):
2/3 cup quality semi-sweet chocolate (chips or bar)
2/3 cup full-bodied dry red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah/Shiraz, red blend)
1 cup milk or 1/2 cup milk and ½ cup of half and half
Sugar or non-sugar sweetener to taste (optional)
½ teaspoon vanilla
Sprinkle of salt
Marshmallows/whipped cream (optional)
Nutmeg/cinnamon (optional)
Directions:
Melt the chocolate on low heat in a pot, add milk and wine and stir until hot. Add vanilla, pour into glasses or mugs and sprinkle with salt. Add optional sweet spices, marshmallows or whipped cream. For a quick and easy version, use a good quality hot chocolate mix package, and add milk, wine, and any toppings you like.
Enjoy!
Mulled Wine
Mulled wine is a tasty and easy addition to the holiday season.
Ingredients:
Inexpensive medium-bodied wine like Merlot, Zinfandel, Malbec, Grenache, or red blend
Orange slices
Whole spices – cinnamon sticks, cloves, Star anise
Maple syrup, honey, or sweetener of your choice
Directions:
Heat wine on medium heat in a stainless pot or slow cooker.
Add orange slices and spices.
Once the wine is hot, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 1 hour. Add a sweetener of your choice.
Serve in mugs using a small ladle.
Enjoy!
Sparkling Poinsettia
A festive and delicious cocktail to serve at your next holiday gathering.
Ingredients:
Any sparkling wine such as Prosecco
Cranberry juice or cocktail
Orange liquor (Grand Marnier, Triple Sec or Cointreau)
Frozen cranberries and/or pomegranate seeds
Orange and/or rosemary for garnish
Directions:
Pour in 1 to 2 tablespoons of orange liquor into a Champagne flute, coupe, or goblet.
Add cranberry juice or cocktail to the halfway point in the glass.
Slowly pour in sparkling wine to top up the glass.
Add a teaspoon of frozen cranberries and/or pomegranate seeds to the glass.
Garnish the glass with a slice of orange, a twist of orange rind and/or a sprig of rosemary.
Cheers!
Left Bank Martini
This newcomer to the martini scene was invented in 2006 to introduce St-Germaine Elderflower liqueur. The name refers to Saint-Germain-des-Prés, which is in the heart of the Left Bank in Paris and is known for its fabulous cafés, amazing restaurants, patisseries and other fine food stores.
This martini is typically served in a martini glass and, in James Bond fashion, it’s best shaken, not stirred.
Ingredients:
2 oz dry Gin
½ ounce Elderflower liqueur (St-Germain or otherwise)
Splash of extra dry Vermouth (1 teaspoon)
½ ounce dry white wine
Ice
Lime or lemon zest for a twist
Directions:
Using a martini shaker or something similar, add ice and then liquid ingredients.
Shake vigorously for about 10 to 15 seconds, then strain into a martini glass.
Garnish with a lime or lemon twist.
Sip and enjoy!
Sgroppino
Sgroppino (pronounced “skuro-pee-no”) is a light and refreshing cocktail which originates from Venice, Italy. It’s a quick and incredibly easy cocktail to make and can be a delicious palate cleanser before eating or a delicate and tasty dessert. You can make this cocktail two ways, either in a “slushie-style” using a bit of cream or in a more refined and delicate style without the cream.
Ingredients:
Prosecco (sparkling wine)
Vodka (any kind)
Lemon sorbet
Cream/half and a half (optional)
Mint and/or lemon (optional garnishes)
Directions:
Using Champagne flutes, pour Prosecco to the halfway point in the flute.
Add vodka (1/2 to 1-ounce shot) to the glass.
Optional: Add a ½ to a 1-ounce shot of cream to the glass.
Add 1 to 2 small scoops of lemon sorbet to the glass.
Lightly blend ingredients with a spoon or leave the ingredients to blend on their own. Top with optional mint and/or lemon slice/twist.
You can serve it with a small spoon if you like.
Saluti!
Apple Cider Wine
A delicious wine cocktail to enjoy during apple cider season.
Ingredients: (Makes 2 servings - adjust as needed)
8 ounces of light to medium-bodied red wine (ex: Beaujolais/Gamay, Pinot Noir or Merlot) or unoaked white wine (ex: Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, or Pinot Gris/Grigio)
8 ounces of apple cider
2 teaspoons of maple syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 cinnamon sticks
1/2 apple, thinly sliced
Directions:
Whisk the wine, cider, syrup/honey, and vanilla together in a pot. Heat at medium temperature and add half of the apple slices. Once the apples appear cooked, simmer over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes.
Serve in a glass or mug and garnish with cinnamon sticks and the other half of the apple slices.
Sip and enjoy!
French 75
French 75 is a delicious and refreshing wine cocktail created in Paris in 1915 during World War 1. It is named after a French 75 mm field gun (which looks like a small cannon) because the gun and the cocktail are both incredibly powerful!
Ingredients:
2-3 ounces of dry sparkling wine
3 tablespoons gin
1 ½ tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
1 lemon
1 tablespoon simple syrup (alternatives – Maple or agave syrup or honey)
Ice cubes
Directions:
Zest the peel from the lemon in a long spiral and set the lemon and peel aside.
Combine the gin, simple syrup (or alternative) and lemon juice in a cocktail shaker. Add the ice cubes and shake well.
Strain into a Champagne flute and top off with sparkling wine.
Garnish with lemon peel and enjoy!
À votre santé!
Caramel Apple Mimosa
Do you enjoy the flavours of caramel, apple and cinnamon? If so, then this is the mimosa for you!
Ingredients:
2 - 3 ounces of apple cider
1 tablespoon of caramel or butterscotch sauce
½ teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tsp of brown sugar
1 oz of caramel-flavoured vodka (optional)
Sparkling wine such as Prosecco
Apple slice or strawberry for garnish
Directions:
Best served in Champagne flutes.
Pour caramel or butterscotch sauce onto a plate. Mix cinnamon and brown sugar on another plate. Dip the rim of the Champagne flute into the sauce and then dip into the cinnamon and brown sugar mix until the rim is nicely coated.
Pour apple cider into the glass, add optional vodka, and then top up the glass with sparkling wine.
Garnish with an apple slice or a strawberry.
Cheers!
Negroni Sbagliato
The Sbagliato cocktail was created in Milan, Italy, about 50 years ago when a bartender inadvertently added sparkling wine to the Negroni cocktail he was making, thereby making a “sbagliato”, which is Italian for “wrong or mistake”. As it turns out, this happy accident has become popular as a delicious and lighter version of the traditional Negroni cocktail.
A Sbagliato is typically served in a lowball cocktail glass, but a large snifter works well too.
Ingredients:
Ice cubes
1/3 cup Campari
1/3 cup sweet vermouth
1/3 cup dry sparkling wine
Saluti!
Sangria
Sangria is one of the best hot-weather punch cocktails you can enjoy in the summer. Easy to make out of whatever you have handy and can be made with red, white, rose, or sparkling wines and any seasonal or frozen fruit.
Ingredients: (makes a full pitcher)
One 750 oz bottle of inexpensive wine
Local or frozen fruit such as peaches, nectarines, berries, cherries, oranges, lemons, grapefruit, grapes, etc.
Sparkling water or soda (7-Up, Sprite, San Pellegrino)
Optional: Simple syrup, sugar or keto-friendly sweeter
Brandy, Grand Marnier or other flavoured liquors
Optional: Sweet spices can be added such as a cinnamon stick
Herbs such as mint or basil
Directions:
Muddle together any ratio of ingredients you like (go lighter on the sugar and/or Brandy and taste it before adding more) and let chill for a minimum of one hour.
Add ice to the glass and pour from the pitcher to avoid watering down your Sangria.
Salud!
Paloma
Paloma means “dove” in Spanish and maybe it was named after a song called “La Paloma,” a popular folk song from the 1860s. It was created by a bar owner in Tequila, Mexico and is very popular in Mexico.
Ingredients:
3 ounces of light dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc, Vinho Verde, Verdejo, Vermentino or Gewurztraminer).
2 ounces of grapefruit juice or 3-4 ounces of Fresca, Jarritos, Kiss or Squirt soda pop, or other grapefruit-flavoured soda.
Lime juice (1 lime)
Optional: Simple syrup, agave, or honey
Optional: Soda water if using grapefruit juice rather than grapefruit-flavoured soda
Optional: Salt or chilli salt for glass rim
Garnish: Lime slice
Ice
Directions: Salt the rim of the glass by dipping it in simple syrup, agave, or honey and then dipping it in salt/chilli salt. Mix wine, simple syrup (optional), grapefruit juice, and lime juice in a shaker or ice glass. *I do not recommend putting soda in the shaker unless you want to wear your Paloma cocktail rather than drink it*. Pour into a preferred serving glass, (such as a stemless wine glass or margarita glass) and top it with sparkling water or grapefruit soda to finish. Garnish with a lime.
Cheers!
New York Sour
The New York Sour is a sophisticated and balanced smoky-sweet cocktail with its roots going back to the mid-1800s in Chicago where it was originally called the Continental Sour. It later became a New York Sour in the 1870s or early 1880s when it was being mixed by a New York bartender and of course, it continues to be popular to this day.
Ingredients:
2 ounces of whiskey (Bourbon, Scotch, Irish, Rye, Canadian, Kentucky)
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon simple syrup (options for simple syrup are maple syrup, agave syrup, and honey)
2 tablespoons of fruity red wine (Zinfandel, Shiraz, Malbec, etc)
Optional: Egg white
Optional garnish: Strip of lemon zest or lemon slice
Directions:
Mix in a cocktail shaker - whiskey, lemon juice, and simple syrup (or your choice as above). Fill with ice and shake for about 30 seconds. Fill a Highball glass with ice and strain the contents from the shaker. Use the back of a spoon inserted just under the drink’s surface and slowly pour the red wine over the back of the spoon, layering it so the wine floats on the surface of the drink. Add optional lemon zest or lemon slice to the rim of the glass. If you like your New York Sour to have a creamy consistency, add an egg white to the cocktail shaker with the other ingredients and shake together.
Sip and enjoy!
Mimosa
Mimosas cocktails are easy to make with equal parts juice and sparkling wine. You can make them with a variety of juices, such as orange, blood orange, grapefruit, cranberry, pineapple, pomegranate, or any other fruit juice you like. You can even blend the juices to create a unique and flavourful Mimosa.
Ingredients: (usually served in Champagne flutes)
*1/2 flute of sparkling white wine (ex: Prosecco, *Cava or Sekt)
*1/2 flute of juice of your choice
*Orange slice for garnish
Directions:
Pour the juice in first and then top up the glass with sparkling wine and add an orange slice for garnish.
Easy and delicious!
Wine Mojito
Sip away and enjoy this delicious, refreshing wine cocktail.
Ingredients; (makes a pitcher)
One 750 mL bottle of white wine (Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio)
2 cups Italian sparkling lemonade or 1 cup still lemonade and 1 cup sparkling water
3 limes (2 for juicing and one for garnish)
Lots of fresh mint (at least one cup)
Optional: Sugar or sugar substitute to taste
Directions: Chill the white wine and Italian sparkling lemonade and//or soda water. Once chilled, mix the wine and sparkling lemonade/lemonade/sparkling water in a large pitcher. Juice two limes and add to the wine and lemonade. Chop 3/4 of your fresh mint and add to the pitcher, muddling it at the bottom of the pitcher. Add optional sugar or sugar substitute and mix. Garnish the glass rims with lime and extra mint and serve over ice.
Enjoy with friends!