A glass of red or white is sometimes too boring for the taking, and then it’s time to shake things up! Mix it up, spike it up, dress it up for an interesting wine cocktail. Sangrias are always a good idea but here we have some more concoctions for you to try.

Prepared with some of 2020’s top wines and spirits, these wine cocktails are a great all-year-round drink for you to sip on and love.  

Call Me A Cab (Vodka-Lemonade-Wine)

Recipe by Food Wine Sunshine

Call Me A Cab, source: website

Loaded with the award-winning Wallis Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, 95 points from Sommeliers Choice Awards, vodka [Papo Js Lambanog Vodka, 95 points, Bartender’s Spirits Awards], this cocktail will surely make you feel like you need a cab to get from your lounge to your bed. 

Ingredients:

- Ice
- 6 oz lemonade
- 1 oz vodka (Try Papo Js Lambanog Vodka)
- 2-3 oz Cabernet Sauvignon (Try Wallis Family Estate Cabernet Sauvignon)

Place the ice in your desired cocktail glass
Pour in the vodka
Pour in the lemonade
Stir gently
Slowly pour on the Cabernet Sauvignon
Enjoy!

Strawberry-orange Chardonnay Sangria

Recipe by: My Food Story

Strawberry-orange Chardonnay Sangria, source: website

Crafted with USA Wine Ratings’ gold-medalist Trimboli Family Wines’ Two Cultures Chardonnay, this strawberry-orange sangria is a favorite amongst white wine lovers in the Bay. The Suave Reposado, which was crowned ‘Tequila of the Year’ at the 2020 USA Spirits Ratings adds an extra kick to this fruity libation. 

Ingredients:

- 2 cups Strawberries sliced
- 1 Orange sliced
- 1 cup Basil loosely packed
- 2 Lime sliced
- 1 Bottle Chardonnay White Wine (Try Two Cultures Chardonnay)
- ½ cup Tequila (Try Suave Reposado)
- 3 cups Sparkling Water / Soda

Leave the peels on while slicing the oranges and lime. Add the fruits, lime, and basil to a pitcher.
Pour tequila and wine over the fruits and give it a stir.
Refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours or preferably overnight. The taste will intensify and get better as it sits in the fridge. When you are ready to serve, pour in the sparkling water or soda. Serve immediately.

Pino-rita

Recipe by The Wood And Spoon

Pinot-rita, source: website

Margarita who? It’s Pinot-rita now. With a full-bodied Pinot Noir like the Sidewood Estate Pinot Noir [95 points, Sommeliers Choice Awards], and a crisp tequila like the Batanga Blanco [93 points, Bartender’s Choice Awards], we guarantee you a tasteful buzz. 

Ingredients:

- For the pinot noir syrup - 
- 8 ounces pinot noir (Try Sidewood Estate Pinot Noir)
- 1/2 cup sugar

For the Pinot-rita - 

- Margarita salt 
- 2 ounces tequila Blanco (Try Batanga Tequila Blanco)
- 1-ounce fresh-squeezed lime juice
- 1-ounce pinot noir syrup 
- 1/2 ounce Cointreau, or other orange-flavored liquor
- Lime wedges, for serving 

To prepare the pinot noir syrup -

Stir the pinot noir and sugar in a small saucepan set over medium heat. 
Bring to a boil and continue to cook until the contents of the pan have been reduced to 4 ounces, about 15 minutes.
Allow to cool and chill completely in a heat-proof container in the fridge. 

The syrup will make about 4 Pinot Ritas. 

To prepare the Pinot-rita - 

Salt the rim of your glass, if desired. Combine the tequila, lime juice, pinot noir syrup, and Cointreau in a cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds. Pour the entire contents of the shaker into the prepared glass. Serve with a lime wedge, if desired. 

Carnivor Swizzle

Recipe by Thrillist

Carnivor Swizzle, source: website

If you’re looking to spice up your wine night, then this is the ideal cocktail for you. Made with Argonza Cellars’ Cabernet Sauvignon, a gold-medalist at the USA Wine Ratings, the Carnivor Swizzle is will give you everything you’re looking for when it comes to a spiced wine cocktail. The EL Encanto Silver Rum, a gold medal Rum at the Bartender’s Spirits Awards blends impeccably to give you a beginning-of-spring kick. 

Ingredients:

- 1.5 ounces Cabernet Sauvignon (Try Argonza Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon)
- 1-ounce white rum (Try El Encanto Silver Rum)
- 0.5 ounces Orgeat syrup
- 0.25 ounces ginger syrup
- Heavy dashes of bitters

Pour the first four ingredients into a shaker with just a few pieces of pebble or cracked ice. 
Shake to aerate (this is known as a "whip shake"). 
Pour contents into a tall swizzle glass that's already filled with pebble ice. 
Mound more ice on top to form a dome. 
Dash heavily with Peychaud's to appear like a snow cone.
Garnish with a mini kebab of grapes and candied ginger. 

Lambrusco Sangria

Recipe by Wine Enthusiast

Lambrusco Sangria, source: website

We can’t end a wine cocktail list without a red wine Sangria - it just wouldn’t feel right. The Pope Valley Winery Sangiovese, a 95 point gold-medalist at the Sommeliers Choice Awards makes a great option for this light yet fruity Sangria. 

Ingredients:

- 1-ounce brandy
- 1-ounce Sangiovese wine (Try Pope Valley Winery Sangiovese)
- ¾ ounce blood orange juice
- ½ ounce Cherry Heering
- ¼ ounce Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
- ¼ ounce lime juice
- Lambrusco, to top
- Blood orange slice, for garnish

In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine all ingredients except Lambrusco and garnish.
Shake well, and strain into Burgundy glass. 
Fill glass with fresh ice, then top with a splash of Lambrusco. Garnish with a blood orange slice.

Header Image: Photo by Jonathan Borba on Unsplash