Wine not mix it? Wine can be a useful ingredient for cocktails

Wine cocktails like the New York Sour (left) and the Wine Spritzer are not uncommon, but should bars be looking into mixing more wine in their drinks? – Photos: Handout

About a year ago, one of my columns talked about making cocktails with wine as a base. While some of the drinks I made at home were decent, I was still curious about why wine, which is one of the most consumed alcoholic beverages in the world, isn’t utilised more in cocktails and bars.

According to Stephens, Penfolds believes there is a certain ‘synergy between wine and cocktails’. — Photos: Handout

When you think about wine-based cocktails, the most common ones are the Sangria, wine coolers, wine spritzers, and maybe the New York Sour. Then there are the sparkling wine or champagne-based cocktails like the Kir Royale, Mimosa, French 75 and so on.