I’ve never been a big fan of wine cocktails. However, after seeing a post on Facebook from Winona Lake’s Port Winona Wine and Market about their new wine cocktail menu, I knew I had to give them a try. In a word or two, they didn’t disappoint. If you are like me and haven’t given wine cocktails a fair shake, head to the Village at Winona and let Port Winona change your mind.

After quickly glancing at the menu propped up on their bar, we were kindly informed that they special that week was the Blushing Berry. Never one to turn down a special, the wife and I thirstily ordered two of them.As we got comfortable with the kids on the porch and awaited our wine cocktails, we enjoyed another beautiful day in the Village.

The Blushing Berry consists of blackberry spritzer, lime, cucumber, and vermouth. For those of you who cringe at the mere mention of vermouth, have no fear. It’s buried by the other ingredients and hardly noticeable. The cocktail was fancily put together like it was getting ready for a night out on the town and was delicious from the first drop to the last.

Since the kids were semi-behaving, we decided to try another round. Round two consisted of the Beach Bum (I had to try one, you know, because of that whole other Beach Bar Bums thing I have going on) which was served in a brass pineapple and the Cucumber Sake Mojito. The Beach Bum is their tiki wine cocktail and consists of typical tiki ingredients such as pineapple, OJ and nutmeg finished off with coconut sake. If you enjoy tiki cocktails as much as I do, you’ll be delighted with this concoction. The Cucumber Sake Mojito was a decent take on the classic mojito with the typical rum ingredient substituted with cucumber sake. If you enjoy rum drinks, you’ll want to skip the others and go straight for these two.

Overall, I was impressed with the wine cocktails at Port Winona Wine and Market. With their choice of alcoholic ingredients limited, they’ve done a magnificent job of offering their customers an alternative to wine and beer. Refreshing for a beautiful summer day, I’m excited to see what they do when they undoubtedly switch up their menu for the cooler months.

Find out more about Winona Lake’s Port Winona Wine and Market!