Boedecker winemaker-owners Stewart Boedecker and Athena Pappas wanted a convenient adult beverage to pack along on picnics or visits to the beach. Having found most canned wines uninspiring, they decided to create their own. “When an old friend started his own line of bitters, a lightbulb came on,” Athena wrote to me, via email, “Why not make a version of a wine spritzer that we’d like to drink?”
After some experimentation, they landed on a base of their dry Pinot gris, which macerates on skins for 36 hours before pressing, and a custom blend from Olde Mackenzie Bitters Co., in Eugene. The aromatized wine is then mixed with about 30 percent sparkling water, brining the finished alcohol to 7.5%.
The color is pale gold with a quiet effervescence. The spritzer smells of fresh ginger, orange peel, vanilla bean, and yellow apple. Only lightly fizzy, the body carries more ginger-inflected yellow fruits and citrus peels, and it has a snappy bitter finish. It is indeed a refreshing quaff for light hearted occasions.
Boedecker Cellars Grigio & Arancia Spritzer
7.5% ABV | $6 for a 12-oz. can (sample)
