Highballs and long drinks · Wine
Chilled red wine, fizzy lemon soda and a glass full of ice: that is the whole recipe. It tastes of red berries and lemon, stays light and cold, and it is what many Spaniards actually drink on a hot terrace instead of sangria.
3½ oz
dry red wine light and fruity, e.g. a young Tempranillo
3½ oz
lemon soda Spanish gaseosa or a clear lemon soda
Garnish: Lemon slice · Ice: Ice cubes
Tinto de Verano
Light, cold and fruity with red berries, soft tannins and a bright lemon sweetness. Low in alcohol.
Tinto de verano means "summer red wine", and it is exactly that: red wine lengthened with a sparkling lemon soda and served on ice. In Spain it is a bar and home staple through the hot months, and it is even sold ready mixed in bottles and cans.
It is often said to come from Córdoba in Andalusia, where the Venta de Vargas is credited with serving red wine with soda in the early twentieth century, a drink once known locally as "un Vargas". The story is widely repeated in Spain, though details vary.
The classic mixer is gaseosa, a lightly sweetened soda water; lemon soda is the other common choice and gives a fruitier drink.
Sangria is a punch with fruit, sugar and often brandy. Tinto de verano is just red wine and soda.
A Spanish lightly sweetened soda water, a common mixer for wine.
A young, light and fruity red, such as a joven Tempranillo or Garnacha.
The perfect sound
Cool red wine and a long evening on a Spanish plaza.
Reader rating
Thanks for rating
Updated:
