White Wine Spritzer Classic
Dry white wine and soda water over ice with a lemon twist. The 1980s lunch drink that Austria invented a century earlier — light, dry, cold and about eight per cent.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Fill a large wine glass with ice.
Pour in the chilled white wine.
Top with chilled soda water.
Express a lemon twist over the top, drop it in, and stir once.
A thoughtful finish
- A dry, acidic white; an oaky or sweet one goes flabby with soda.
- Everything cold — wine, soda and glass.
- Two to one wine is a drink; one to one is the Austrian Gespritzter and lighter still.
Common mistakes
- Warm wine.
- Flat soda.
- Lemon-lime soda instead of soda water, which makes a sweet drink.
A few good questions.
What does a White Wine Spritzer taste like?
Crisp white wine, lightened with fizz and lemon — dry, cold and easy.
How strong is it?
About 7% at two to one; 5% to 6% at equal parts.
Which wine?
Grüner Veltliner is the Austrian original; Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc or Vinho Verde all work.
Is it the same as a Gespritzter?
Yes — the Austrian name, usually at equal parts.
Variations
- White Sangria — White wine with fruit and brandy.
- Aperol Spritz — Aperol, prosecco and soda.
- Vermouth Spritz — Sweet vermouth and soda.
- Kir — White wine and crème de cassis.
Where it comes from
c. 1850s · Vienna, Austria
The spritzer is Austrian — the Gespritzter, white wine cut with soda, has been a Viennese café and Heuriger drink since the mid-1800s, when the English brought soda siphons to the Continent and Austrian wine was light enough to want them. Hungary’s fröccs is the same drink with a vocabulary of ratios. America took it up in the 1970s and 1980s as the diet drink of the business lunch, usually made badly with warm sweet wine, which is why it has a reputation to live down. Made as the Austrians make it — a dry, acidic Grüner Veltliner or Riesling, hard cold soda, equal parts or two to one wine, over ice — it is a genuinely good summer drink.
Sources
- Difford's Guide, White Wine Spritzer, 2010 (reference)
- Punch, In Defense of the Wine Spritzer, 2016 (reference)
- Gary Regan, The Joy of Mixology, 2003 (book)
Strength. About 0.8 US standard drinks at an estimated 7% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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