17 Wine Cocktail Recipes
Wine-based drinks are the low-proof end of the list, and they are the ones you can happily serve at four in the afternoon. Sparkling wine does most of the work: Champagne, prosecco, cava and cremant carry aroma up out of the glass and turn a small measure of liqueur into a complete drink. The Mimosa, the Kir Royale and the Bellini are all built on exactly that principle. Vermouth is the other half of the category, wine fortified and aromatised with botanicals, dry or sweet, and the quiet backbone of the Martini and the Americano. Treat it as the perishable it is: once opened, a bottle belongs in the fridge and should be finished within a month. Aperitivo spritzes fall here too, where bitter liqueur, sparkling wine and soda meet over plenty of ice. Keep everything genuinely cold, pour the wine in last, and stir as little as you can get away with.
