Wine Cocktails: Elevating the Vine

Wine cocktails occupy a unique space in the mixology world—drinks that start with wine as their base and build from there. From the elegant Wine Spritzer to the complex Sangria, these cocktails showcase wine's versatility beyond the glass, demonstrating that what's meant for sipping can also be spectacular when mixed.

The wine cocktail's primary advantage is built-in refreshment. Wine already contains acidity, alcohol, and complex flavors—the bartender's job is simply to enhance these elements or add complementary dimensions. A Kir (white wine with crème de cassis) takes two minutes to make and delivers sophisticated refreshment. The Wine Spritzer (wine with soda) is practically monastic in its simplicity yet infinitely customizable.

Fortified wines—sherry, port, vermouth, and marsala—deserve special attention in the wine cocktail context. These wines, with their added spirits and concentrated flavors, make exceptional cocktail bases. A Sherry Flip (sherry, egg, sugar, nutmeg) is a revelation. A Port Old Fashioned showcases how fortified wine's sweetness and complexity can stand in for modifier while the spirit provides heat.

The wine cocktail renaissance has brought serious attention to this category. Bartenders now create wine-based drinks with the same care as spirit cocktails: proper dilution, balance of flavors, attention to temperature and glassware. The result is drinks that are lighter and more sessionable than spirit cocktails while offering comparable complexity and far more variety.