Cool down with an icy version of your favorite summer wine.
Rosé has a reputation as an easy-drinking, warm-weather wine that, to quote the oft-repeated rhyming chant at boozy lunches and bachelorette parties, is ideal for drinking all day. The latest version of the pink-hued vino is at the intersection of wine and slushie — the unwaveringly popular frosé.
While some frosé recipes keep the ingredients simple, with just rosé and strawberry syrup to enhance the color and flavor of the wine, restaurants and bars around Reno-Tahoe have transformed the vibrant frozen beverage into a summery cocktail.
At PJ’s, a restaurant at Gray’s Crossing Golf Course in Truckee, you’ll find frosé swirling in its slushie machine, artfully mixed with a bright lemon gin liqueur and house-made strawberry purée, and garnished with fragrant, fresh mint.
Regardless of how you plan to dress up your frosé, it all starts with choosing the right wine, according to Lindsay Gwin, general manager at Tahoe Mountain Club, which operates PJ’s, and a certified sommelier. Gwin recommends using a dry rosé from the Provence region of France, such as Mirabeau Pure Provence Rosé, which retails for about $22.
“Like any dish that you make, you want the base ingredient to be very high quality,” Gwin explains. “Provence rosé is really crisp and refreshing. It’s the perfect summer wine. It’s dry, so you can adjust the sugar levels in the frosé as you like — you’re not starting with this base that’s really high in residual sugar. It typically has these beautiful strawberry, rose petal, and melon notes in it.”
To brighten the cocktail and complement the strawberry notes of the wine, Gwin crafts and adds strawberry purée with fresh berries, lemon, and sugar. But the real “secret weapon” in PJ’s frosé is a small amount of Sheringham Distillery Lemon Gin Liqueur.
“It’s this very cool distillery on Vancouver Island, owned by a couple with a strong culinary background,” she says. “It mirrors the Provence rosé; it’s really sunny and very summery. It’s made with a gin base specifically crafted to pair with juice of beautiful lemons. It brings this citrus note to the frosé that’s really bright and adds depth. Most commercial frosés have a spirit component to them, and I think this one is really special.”
While most restaurants and bars make their frosés with commercial machines that freeze and agitate the beverage to keep it in the perfect slushie form, you can recreate the icy cocktail at home with a blender and ice. Alternatively, you can pour the rosé into ice cube trays and let it freeze overnight. Though the wine won’t be solid due to the alcohol content, it will be frozen enough to get a good slushie texture. Another option is skipping the strawberry purée and blending frozen berries with a chilled rosé.
Personalize your at-home frosé recipe by playing with different types of spirits, fruit purées, and garnishes. Use outlandish straws and fancy glassware to add to the experience.
“I would encourage people who are making it at home to have fun with it,” Gwin adds. “Garnish it with a strawberry or a lemon twist. Get some fresh mint and use that as a garnish because that adds another note that you’re smelling as you drink. I would get fun straws. If you’re going to jump through the hoops of making frosé at home, make it fun.”
PJ’s Frosé
(courtesy of PJ’s Restaurant at Gray’s Crossing Golf Course in Truckee. Serves 6)
1 750 milliliter bottle of dry rosé, ideally from the Provence region
100 milliliters Sheringham Distillery Lemon Gin Liqueur
2 to 3 tablespoons strawberry purée (instructions below)
Simple syrup, to taste
Blend fresh strawberries with a squeeze of lemon and dash of sugar, then strain to create a simple strawberry purée. Blend ingredients with ice cubes until you get your desired frozen slushie texture.
