Fresh Ideas for Fall Wine Cocktails
Fall is the perfect time for sitting on the porch or patio with a cocktail in hand. The air feels refreshing after summer, with a touch of crisp coolness and a gentle breeze. You surely have a go-to cocktail recipe for these occasions, the one that you have easily memorized. But with the change of season, it’s a great time to mix up the cocktail rotation. We’re big fans of wine cocktails and think a big pitcher of them is the best thing to carry us from Fall right into the holidays.
So we turned to our friends at Graft Wine Shop in Charleston, SC, an award-winning small wine shop and bar from the amazing duo of Femi Oyediran and Miles White. Named Sommeliers of the Year by Food & Wine, Femi and Miles are known not only for their thoughtful and eclectic wine collection but also the tunes they play while you’re browsing or sipping at the shop. We asked them to share some tips and fresh ideas for making wine cocktails at home.
Q&A with Our Wine Experts
Q: What types of wines work best for cocktails?
A: "Since wine is usually the base, it kind of depends on what kind of cocktail you're making. If you're adding citrus / juice of any kind I'd say just use something that is affordable, light bodied with good acid because the citrus will take control. If you're getting fancier and adding another spirit (apertif/amaro/bitters/etc) you can find some fun aromatic wines that would help round out the intensity of the other ingredients. I would think of it the same way you'd think about cocktails - if you're making a screwdriver, you're not mixing orange juice with Stolichnaya Elit (unless you're very fancy) just like you're not mixing Grand Cru Champagne with orange juice for a mimosa. Butttt if you're making a dry martini you may opt for the Elit and if you want to mix some vermouth with wine you may opt for something nicer."
Q: What are your favorite flavor combos for wine cocktails? Any tips for what flavors work/don’t work with wine?
A: "Wine cocktails offer an endless number of options. We're no mixologists but once you understand the basics of food/cocktails you can really explore. Building blocks for us and wine cocktails are a base (wine obviously) some sweetness (whether it's in the form of juice/liquor) some bitterness (bitters/liquor) and more acid (juice). Sparkling wine usually is a no brainer because effervescence has never made anyone angry."
A fun saying we always follow in wine/food pairings is: what grows together, goes together.
Q: What's your go-to wine cocktail recipe?
A: "We recently had a fun collaboration with one of our favorite restaurants in downtown Charleston, Daps Breakfast & Imbibe, when they approached us with a canned wine cocktail. We took a really aromatic Italian white wine, mixed it with a little Amontillado Sherry (a dry, deeply nutty style of Sherry) with a splash of local peach juice (for sweetness) and a dash of peach bitters. It was canned with cava to give it a little bubble but we found topping it with club soda right out of the mixer worked equally as well. The backbone of the cocktail was the aromatic white wine with bright acidity lifted with the salty, nutty sherry, sweet peach juice and peach bitters.
Buttttt a good Aperol Spritz (trendy, we know) and Frose (even more trendy, we know) always hit the spot too. We also both have a code to never pass up a free drink so if a Bellini or a Mimosa hits the table at breakfast we're all in."
Q: Any benefits to using wine in cocktails versus liquor?
A: "As early-30 year old small business owners that can get stressed out really easily, we usually prefer liquor because it cuts the edge a little faster, but if you want the opposite effect, wine is a wonderful alternative with its lower alcohol content. Wine cocktails in the afternoon, liquor cocktails once the sun sets - sometimes it's a marathon, not a race. Wine also offers a unique flavor profile you may not find in many other spirits - it can make a cocktail super light and lifted - easy drinking and approachable which is always a plus."
Q: What’s your favorite wine tool? Or what wine tool(s) should everyone have in their collection?
A: "Honestly we like any pulltab [aka, Waiter’s Friend]... after opening a million bottles of wine it's just the easiest and compact and distributors love leaving them at the shop. If we're going fancy, I'd grab a Le Thiers corkscrew. If I'm buying for my mother, the Le Creuset Lever would be the best gift because it works so well."
Q: Any tips on pairing food with wine cocktails? Any favorite Fall wine/food pairings?
A: "Kinda going back to the above question - it always matters what you have access to and who you're hanging out with. A fun saying we always follow in wine/food pairings is: what grows together, goes together. Wine cocktails are no different we believe - a french 75 and escargot? Bring it on. Gambas al ajillo and sangria? Name a better pairing. A new york sour and a slice? C'mon. For some reason in the fall we always like to drink Negronis. Actually every season is Negroni season but when the weather cools down we want to hunker down with a huge cheese board and a Negroni and because we can't have more than 3/4 without making fools of ourselves, it's always fun to have some Negroni Sbagliatos on hand (1 part sweet red vermouth, 1 part campari, 1 part sparkling wine (please use good prosecco)). Tastes just as delicious without the hangover."
Q: What’s the inspiration for your playlists?
A: "I wish we had a more competent answer for this, but we don't. Music to us is just as important as wine & food and variety makes life way more interesting. We approach music like we approach wine, meaning that we have the understanding that music is constantly evolving and no matter how hard you try, you'll never hear (or drink) it all. Experiencing new music and sharing it with others has so many similarities with wine - it's the simple things. Admitting you don't know it all is one of the first steps to becoming an honest person and we try to stay honest." [Note: Femi and Miles create an interesting monthly playlist available on Spotify, perfect for your next happy hour.]
