Tinto de Verano

Tinto de Verano was introduced to me by our friend who's from Spain. She had us over for cocktails and tapas on a hot day at the beginning of the end of summer. I was curious — lemonade and red wine? — but I realized it’s a loose version of sangria. It’s truly so refreshing and welcomes the transition of lighter summer wines into the season of cozy reds, just how I view the month of September. It’s the perfect sipper to greet guests or while having an apéro hour before dinner.

Don’t get caught up in measurements. It’s an eyeball recipe as you can make it as you like it. In Spain, they use La Casera Limón, a lemon-lime soda, to make this or it’s sold in cans, so feel free to ditch lemonade and use Sprite or 7Up instead — just know that it will be sweeter.

Psst! To make it easy for hosting, have a pitcher of lemonade, a bottle of red, ice cubes, and glasses so guests can build their own to their liking.

Tinto de Verano
makes 8 cocktails (with extra lemonade)

shopping list —

• 1 bottle Spanish red wine — like Tempranillo or reds from Rioja

• 8-9 lemons, juiced for about 1 1/2 cups juice

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 1 1/2 cups water + 7 cups water

• ice cubes

equipment —

• hand juicer

• wine glass

steps —

1. Boil the sugar and 1 1/2 cups of water together to make the simple syrup. Allow to cool.

2. Combine the simple syrup, lemon juice, and 7 cups of cold water together. Adjust the sweetness with sugar and tartness with lemon juice as desired.

3. Fill a wine glass halfway with ice. Add red wine halfway up the glass and top with lemonade. Garnish with a lemon wheel. You can also add a few splashes of soda water for a slightly fizzy tinto de verano.