January 20, 2022
Review RecipeWine Floats
Table of Contents
These wine floats are so much fun. Take your favorite sweet red wine, add a scoop of your favorite ice cream flavor and seltzer water, and you have a fizzy and refreshing alcoholic treat to enjoy. Of course, there is no reason you have to save this recipe for hot weather; it would be amazing all year round.
For more frothy grown-up drinks, try our alcoholic frozen lemonade and boozy creamsicle float.
WINE FLOATS INGREDIENTS
You’ll need:
- 1 (750 milliliters) bottle of red wine (Merlot, Pinot Noir, or Sweet Red Blend)
- 1 (½ gallon) good quality ice cream (vanilla, strawberry or black cherry)
- 1 (1-liter) bottle of unflavored seltzer water
PRO TIP:
When deciding on which red wine to choose, remember to pick one that you would enjoy drinking on its own. Try to stick with medium to sweet wine for these floats. Dryer wines do not pair as well with the ice cream.
SUBSTITUTIONS AND ADDITIONS
SELTZER: You can skip the addition of the seltzer water if you choose; however, it gives these ice cream floats that ‘old-fashioned’ soda fountain flair. Club soda or tonic water would also work in place of seltzer water and give you the same fizziness.
ICE CREAM: When deciding on which ice cream to pair with your wine and ice cream floats, you can read the bottle and see what flavor profile your wine has. For example, the Pinot Noir I chose has flavor notes of cherry, raspberry, and vanilla, so I decided to pair this fruity red wine with a good quality classic vanilla ice cream. My Merlot had flavor notes of berries and chocolate, so I paired it with strawberry ice cream (a dark chocolate raspberry ice cream would also be delicious), and my sweet red blend had flavor notes of black cherry and plum, so I paired it with black cherry ice cream.
WINE: You also make this with white wine. Choose sweet white wines such as Pinot Grigio or Riesling.
HOW TO MAKE THIS WINE FLOATS RECIPE
PRO TIP:
This recipe makes a smaller batch of drinks but can easily be doubled to serve more people.
STEP ONE: Pour 5 ounces of red wine into the wine glass.
PRO TIP:
You could also serve this in a tall glass instead of a wine glass.
STEP TWO: Scoop 2 generous scoops of ice cream into the glass of red wine.
STEP THREE: Top the glass of wine and ice cream with ¼ cup of unflavored seltzer water.
STEP FOUR: Enjoy!
HOW TO SERVE
These red wine floats can be enjoyed with a spoon or sipped. It is best to make individual servings as you want them. If you are making these for a party, you can make the wine glasses extra fancy with a couple of cherries or fresh raspberries in the glass as well. Offer your guests a choice of drinks and add our wine slushies as well.
MORE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES RECIPES
STORAGE
ON THE COUNTER: You can store any extra red wine, corked and on the counter, for up to a week. The red wine ice cream floats are best made and served immediately and won’t keep for any length of time.
Step up your cocktail game with these red wine milkshakes. The unlikely combination of red wine and ice cream makes for a fun and fruity dessert cocktail.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
This drink is best made right when you plan to serve it. It won’t keep at all in the fridge or freezer.
You can tailor this wine float recipe to your personal preferences in wine tastes. Try to choose a sweeter wine as it will blend nicely with the ice cream.
Try to pick an ice cream that complements the flavors in the wine you choose. Check the wine label and pick an ice cream flavor that matches the fruit flavors mentioned.
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Wine Floats
Ingredients
- 750 milliliters red wine (Merlot, Pinot Noir, or Sweet Red Blend)
- ½ gallon good quality ice cream (vanilla, strawberry, or black cherry)
- 1 liter unflavored seltzer water
Instructions
- Pour 5 ounces of red wine into a wine glass.
- Scoop 2 generous scoops of ice cream into the wine glass.
- Top the wine and ice cream with ¼ cup of unflavored seltzer water.
- Enjoy!
Comments
Gloria says
Such a fun and beautiful treat!
Chris says
Could this be made with a non-alcoholic wine? say a red sparkling wine? If yes, assume I would skip the seltzer since the non-alcoholic is already “fizzy” on its own? what do you think? any tips? THANKS 🙂
Layne Kangas says
Hi, Chris – I would assume it would work but we didn’t try it like that so I can’t say for 100% certain! Please let me know if you try it out. Enjoy!