Wine Harvest Punch

The end of the wine harvest season is a natural transition into the holiday season. And the holiday season is a time for wine, celebrations, hosting, and soirees.

As we’re wrapping up the wine grape harvest within the U.S., I wanted to share a delightfully delicious wine cocktail that brings the essence of Fall and Winter into a glass.

I have to admit that I struggle with wine cocktail creations. They can be a little bit tricky to get “just right” so that many people will enjoy them. Last year, I made a pumpkin spice bubbly cocktail and the primary feedback I received was, “Make it sweeter.” Ha! As a general reminder to all of my Wine Lovers out there, you can always make a wine cocktail sweeter. Just add more simple syrup or sugar. Mix. Serve!

While wine cocktails are not always easy to create, I’m hoping this Wine Harvest Punch will dazzle wine enthusiasts and cocktail lovers, alike. The flavor profile combines flavors that are traditionally Fall and Winter-based: ripe red fruit, cranberries, and orange citrus. With a few alterations this taste bud sensation can go from “Fall-based” to “Winter-based” in a snap!

Here’s some tips on creating your very own Wine Harvest Punch!

Wine Selection

This punch recipe uses a red wine. It can be difficult to find a red wine that provides good flavor concentration, minimal oaky flavors, and adequate acidity to get this mixture right. While I tried using some of my go-to California red wines, I found that many of them lacked enough acidity and often came with oaky flavors that were much too strong to really make this libation work.

Also, avoid Pinot Noir wines. We tried a few different Pinot Noirs, but the red color chemistry of Pinot Noir wine did not mix well with the Blue Curacao Liqueur. 

Therefore, I recommend taking a hard-left turn from the California wine aisle and popping over to the Portugal wine section.  This region will likely have enough options within a good price point (<$20/bottle) with red wines that burst with bright, red fruit flavors, enough acidity (but not too much), and barely a hint of oakiness. I used the wine brands Quinta do Crasto (Douro Superior) and Arreio (Lisboa Reserva) for some taste tests with this cocktail, but you aren’t tied to these brands.

If you are not familiar with Portuguese red wines, go to the “Portugal” section of your wine store. Look for the dry table wines (still wines) and avoid any of the Ports. Ports have a much higher alcohol content, specific flavors, and are sweet. For this cocktail concoction, you want a dryer red wine.

The Extra Ingredients

The overall flavor mixture for this cocktail includes red berries, orange citrus, and cranberry. It’s a good combination for both Fall and Winter holidays. Cranberries are usually harvested in the Fall. Many people freeze cranberries for use during the winter holidays. Thus, it’s a great flavor to tie both seasons together. While we take it for granted today, citrus is a seasonally winter fruit. During the 1930s – 1950s, the tradition ran strong to send citrus as Christmas gifts due to their rarity throughout the rest of the year. But today it’s not unusual to see various citrus-inclusions on Thanksgiving Day: from citrus-and-herb glazed turkeys to lemon-zested green beans and, even, oranges in the salad bowl. 

Let’s take a minute to break down where these flavors are coming from, from within the cocktail.

The berry flavors are primarily contributed by the red wine. Portuguese dry red wines tend to have a fairly concentrated red fruit flavor that dominates the wine. It makes them very appealing to a broad range of palates.

The cranberry essence from within this cocktail is coming from the splash of cranberry juice we’ll add to the cocktail.

Finally, the orange component comes from one of the following spirits: Blue Curacao Liqueur or Triple Sec.

To make this mixture appropriate for the Halloween season, use Blue Curacao Liqueur. This sweet liqueur has a bright blue color and a complex orange-citrus flavor that mixes well with the red wine. As a bonus, the blue color of the liqueur and the red color of the wine combine to form a deep, dark purple color that leans this cocktail into the Halloween spirit!

If Blue Curacao isn’t something you have on hand, you can easily swap this with Triple Sec. The flavor in Triple Sec is a little brighter, leaning heavier into the fresh orange-citrus than that of Blue Curacao. Nonetheless, it’s an appropriate alternative if you have this in stock.

Finally, this cocktail will need a little spritz to give it that punch-like character. I used Club Soda for our spritz since we preferred this cocktail on the lighter and dryer (less sweet) side. But if you wanted to add something for sweetness, you could try a lemon-lime soda or even cranberry ginger ale.

Mixing the Punch

You’ll need a shaker glass and some ice cubes to really make this cocktail pop.

Before mixing any of your ingredients, add ice to a shaker glass. Then add each of the liquid ingredients to the shaker glass in the concentrations listed below. Give the mixture a good shake.

Pour the punch into the cocktail glass of your preference, leaving behind the ice in the shaker. I liked to pour this over ice, personally. The Hubs preferred it without the extra ice. Honestly, it’s totally your preference here!

Top up with club soda to get some extra bubbles into the drink.

Garnish with an orange peel. I preferred to fold this onto a cocktail pick to provide an abstract visual of a pumpkin for the Fall season. If you wanted an alternative for the Winter season, you could opt in some cranberries on a cocktail pick. Or, keep the orange peel garnish and gloss the rim of the glass with sugar. To do this, dip the edge of the glass in simple syrup or grenadine. Then dip into sugar for that extra sugary sweetness.

Enjoy!

Recipe

• 1 Part Portuguese Red Wine
• 0.5 Parts Blue Curacao or Triple Sec
• 0.5 Parts Cranberry Juice
• Splash of Club Soda
• More Club Soda to top up the cocktail