Whether you are on vacation, sitting poolside, or just want to treat yourself, wine cocktails are a fantastic way to celebrate summer. We The People have a few summer wine cocktails to see you through Labor Day, all you have to do is grab the wine, hit the farmers’ market, and invite your fellow winos over for an evening of relaxing out in the backyard.

One of the reasons we love wine cocktails so much is because there are endless combinations you can experiment with and options for every palette. However, there are a few general guidelines for you to keep in mind when making cocktails:

  • Inexpensive but fruity wines are your best friend for making wine-based cocktails, which means you can save your more expensive bottles for enjoying as they were intended.

  • Avoid using any oaked wines for your cocktail base.

  • Don’t overcomplicate things. You can’t go wrong with adding lemon, lime or grapefruit to a citrusy wine like Sauvignon Blanc.

As you experiment with recipes you will find when you stick to thirst-quenching drinks, fresh ingredients, and tasty combinations every cocktail you create will be a winner. If your favorite wine cocktail recipe didn’t make our list below and you would like to share, please email us at support@wethepeople.wine. We would love to see your favorite sensational spritzers, summery sangria, or stunning sparkling wine cocktails.

White Wine Sangria:

White wine sangria is light, refreshing, and an ideal drink for a hot summer day, yet this fabulous cocktail requires only a few, easy-to-find ingredients. Although there is no one recipe for sangria—there are many amazing variations. Sangrias are easy to make and even easier to drink, and each offers a unique taste adventure. For our simple recipe you will need the following ingredients:

  • 2 cups club soda (or ginger ale)

  • ⅔ cup white sugar

  • 2 ounces of brandy, optional

  • 1 (750 milliliters) bottle white wine, chilled – we prefer Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc

  • 1 lime, cut into wedges

  • 3 medium oranges, cut into wedges (or 1 cup orange juice)

  • chopped tropical fruit, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather Ingredients

  2. Squeeze the juice from the citrus wedges into the pitcher. If possible, remove the seeds and toss in the wedges. If you’re using orange juice instead, add it to the pitcher.

  3. Pour your white wine of choice into the pitcher with fruit.

  4. If using, add the brandy and the sugar. Stir very well to ensure that all of the sugar is dissolved.

  5. If not serving right away, place it in the fridge. Add the ginger ale or club soda just before serving so the sangria retains its sparkle. Serve cold and enjoy.

For those of you who prefer red sangria, we encourage you to try our favorite traditional red sangria recipe from the Minimalist Baker.  

Strawberry Rose’ Spritzer:

A refreshing spritzer turned over the top amazing with strawberry and rose sparkling wine is the perfect touch to a day out on the pool or a weekend brunch with friends and family. Before you skip straight to gathering ingredients, be warned this recipe does require time and patience compared to our white wine recipe. However, the extra work and time truly pay off in the end when you can taste the fresh strawberry purée in your glass.

For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

Strawberry Purée:

  • 2 2/3 cups (1.2 kg) strawberries

  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar

Spritz:

  • 3/4 cup (6 fluid oz.) strawberry purée

  • 12 oz (355 ml) dry sparkling rosé wine

  • 6 oz (122 ml) Aperol (liquor)

Once you have the ingredients in front of you, follow our two-step process below:

Strawberry Purée:

  1. Wash and hull the strawberries. Toss with sugar in a large bowl and allow to macerate (sit and get juicy) for about 1 hour. Purée strawberry/sugar mixture in a blender until liquified. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve in a large jar or other air-tight container*.

Spritz:

  1. Add 1.5 oz (45 ml) strawberry purée into four 8 oz tumblers. Add 1.5 oz (45 ml) Aperol to each glass and stir to combine. Top with 3 oz (90 ml) sparkling rosé.

For those of you who want to make strawberry rose’ spritzers with a twist, we recommend our favorite go-to recipe from California Grown.