Imbibe
Wine cocktails are hot-weather favorites

By Sean Nakamura

Sangria combines red wine, fruit juice, sugar and spices. Advertiser library photo

Wine-based cocktails, such as the mimosa, are brunch favorites, but don't limit yourself, because the versatility and drinkability of these concoctions make them great any time.

The simplest of wine cocktails are the spritzer and the cooler. As basic as any highball drink, the spritzer and the cooler combine some type of wine with a sparkling mixer: club soda in a Spritzer; 7Up in a cooler. More often using white or blush wine than red wine, the spritzer and cooler can be combined with citrus or tropical juices to take on a more fanciful exotic appearance.

Sangria, the festive Spanish wine punch, is another version of this theme. This hugely interpretive cocktail combines red wine and a vast array of ingredients that could include any type of fruit or fruit juice, sparking mixers, spices, and/or brandy. Sangria is often made in quantity for party consumption and is a must for any summer party with a Latin theme.

Fruit juices and purees mixed with sparkling wines offer another alternative in creating many of the more popular wine cocktails. One of the best known, which must be included in any article on wine cocktails, is the ubiquitous mimosa. Simple in its ingredients, orange juice and sparkling wine, it is a favorite as a light morning or brunch cocktail.

Growing in popularity, the Bellini uses peach puree and sparkling wine to create another delicious alternative. Any type of sweet fruit juice or puree may work well combined with a dry or off-dry sparkling wine. Mango, tangerine, lychee, papaya and pineapple are just a few of the many possibilities available for a tropical version.

One of the most storied wine cocktails has to be Kir. The drink was a favorite of its namesake Canon Felix Kir, mayor of Dijon, France, in the 1940s. To the highly acidic white wine of the area was added creme de cassis, a syrupy black-currant liqueur, to sweeten the mixture and create a more palatable drink. Later, using another rather acidic wine — Champagne — the more risquÚ Kir Royale was created.

Variations on this theme, using sparkling wine or a rather acidic wine and adding a sweet liqueur (best results come with ones that are fruity and of low alcohol level), are the basis for many festive cocktails. For a tropical twist, try mixing Alize, a passion fruit cognac liqueur, and sparkling wine for a fun pre-dinner mixer.

The Champagne cocktail and the French 75 are two additional classic cocktails that come to mind when we contemplate the array of wine cocktails.

A rather odd couple combines to form the Champagne cocktail: Angostura bitters, a bar flavoring better known as a stomach settler, is blended with sugar and sparkling wine to create a concoction with a intriguing herbaceous edge.

The French 75, though now a rather obscure classic, was once in vogue as a cocktail commemorating the infamous French 75 light field gun in use during World War I. It's a mixture of gin, lemon juice and sparkling wine, and represents a number of cocktails that incorporate wine with other types of distilled liquors.

While we may have already graduated from the citrusy Bartles & Jaymes Cooler original, the notion lives in many wine cocktails we enjoy from the bar. Whether you're looking for something refreshing for a hot day, or something dainty for the party's light drinkers, think about some of these thirst-quenching options.

Try making this Tropical Sangria using ingredients often grown in Island backyards. If you find yourself in a condo or your backyard is bare, try finding these items on your next trip to Chinatown, or substitute with fruit from the neighborhood market.

Tropical Sangria

• 1 bottle dry red wine
• 1 Ka'u orange, sliced
• 1/4 sugar-loaf pineapple, cored and sliced
• 4 calamansi (Filipino limes)
• Sugar to taste
• 10 ounces club soda

Combine all ingredients except club soda and allow flavors to meld in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Add club soda just before serving over ice in festive glasses.