Summer is here, the most glorious time of the year for day drinking and poolside afternoons with the BBQ roaring and the sexy esky full of vinous delights. In 35 degrees I’m sideways after only a few, which calls for a happy medium. 
So what to drink when one wants wine but it’s too hot for wine?

Hello, wine spritz! The best of both worlds. Refreshing + wine + low alcohol = happy camper or as CicciaBella’s Maurice Terzini’s would call it, ‘The art of drinking all day and not getting hammered!’.

It’s said the term spritz was derived from the Austrian word ‘spritzen’, which means ‘to spray’ and has come to mean the process of adding sparkling water. Austrian soldiers passing through Italy’s Veneto region in the early 1900s found the local wine not to their liking, so would add sparkling water to make it more palatable. 

The Aperol spritz is arguably the most famous, being a mix of the bitter apéritif Aperol, Prosecco and sparkling water.

A popular take on the spritz in Northern Italy is ‘the Hugo’. Swap Aperol for Elderflower liquor and mix with Prosecco, sparkling water plus a few mint leaves, a slice of lime and ice. How delightful.

The French take (the French 75) mixes Champagne, gin, simple syrup and lemon juice while in  Germany, they call it “süssgespritzter”, a concoction of wine or cider with lemonade or a citrus-inspired soda.

But how do we new world Aussies do it? With a big beautiful rainbow of creativity and flair, of course! 

The director of Mr. West Bar & Bottleshop in Footscray Caleb Baker says, ‘We are big fans of a spritz cocktail at Mr. West. Their relatively low ABV, fruit-forward flavours and feel good fizzy bubbles makes them the ultimate refreshing summer cocktail. They are also a fairly simple cocktail that anyone can get creative with. 

We are particularly enjoying them with Pet Nat at the moment which can really add an extra layer of flavour complexity!’ 

Pet nats aka Petillant Naturel have exploded onto our scene like a bat out of hell. Fizzy, fun, smashable,  natural wines with attitude and complexity, these will spruce up your spritz no end. 

Of course, sparkling wine like Prosecco is classic, but your good old bubble-less vino makes for a smashing spritz too. If you’re choosing still wine I would suggest fruit-forward, high acid wines with low tannins. Nothing too oaky, too high in alcohol or too overpowering. 

For whites tuck into Sauv Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Riesling or Fiano. For reds – Grenache, Pinot Noir: anything you can chill. And of course, you can’t go past a rose.

However, if pulling together more than one thing in a glass sounds like an effort, no problemo! Mike Bennie explains, ‘there’s a growing and interesting category of pre-made, ‘RTD’ options coming in cans. Lower alcohol, lower sugar, lower calories are good baselines for their appeal, but the diversity of flavours, refreshment factor and general sense of fun that comes from the category is likewise equally appealing.’

Below are some twists on the Spritz to get your creative juices flowing and an RTD to throw in the esky.

Bec Shave from Rising Sun Workshop
‘We are lovers of local producers and this is our take on the Aperol Spritz – Fizzy, refreshing and full of flavour.”

RSW Aperitif Spritz
Serve in a wine glass.
Fill the glass with ice.
Add 30mL Adelaide Hills Bitter Orange
120mL good Aussie pet nat, we love BK Wines Chardonnay Pet Nat in this
Top with a splash of soda
Garnish with a slice of grapefruit 

FISH SHOP – Nic Pestalozzi
“Use a fresh and quality prosecco – we’re using a fun bottle produced by Puncheon Darts in Victoria. 

“The FISH SHOP Spritz”
Cappelletti
Peach liquor
Prosecco
Coconut syrup

Michael Calamante Bar Manager at Melbourne’s 1806

The PA Fiano Plum
40ml Unico Zelo Fiano (Any Local will do)
20ml Ota Umeshu (Japanese Plum Wine)
2 or 3 strawberries cut in half
Top with Soda
Put all ingredients except soda into the wine glass and stir gently
Add ice and top with soda

Caleb Baker at Footscray’s Mr. West

The Outback Spritz
40ml Maidenii Sweet vermouth
20ml Okar Amaro (a great Aussie spirit)
Squeeze of lemon juice
Dash of sugar syrup
90ml sparkling wine

Slice of cucumber and a handful of native Australian fruits (we used blood limes, sunrise limes and rainforest cherries). Stir over lots of ice in a big wine glass and garnish with some native coastal rosemary (or regular rosemary). 

RTD Option

PnV Merchants – Newtown
Sprezza Vero Spritz Italiano Bianco $9