Easter wine cocktails: 6 spring recipes to make at home, plus the best wines for each drink
Easter is the most underrated drinking holiday of the year, marking the transition between the dark, warming spirits of winter and summer’s al fresco cocktails. This guide brings you six wine based Easter cocktails specifically developed for the spring table, as well as expert approved wine recommendations for each recipe.
Table of Contents
Our recommended wines and key ingredients for your Easter cocktails
Tignanello 2022 – Marchesi Antinori
Tuscany, Italy
Amarone della Valpolicella – Masi Costasera
Veneto, Italy
Reserve Exclusive Rosé – Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte
Champagne, France
Imperial Brut – Moët & Chandon
Champagne, France
Laurène Pinot Noir – Domaine Drouhin Oregon 2023 – Oregon, US
Oregon, US
Gran Reserva – CVNE 2018 – Rioja, Spain
Rioja, Spain
Pinot Noir (1.5 L) – Meiomi
California, US
Brut Rosé – Chandon
California, US
Whispering Angel Rosé – Château d\’Esclans 2024
Côtes de Provence, France
Lillet Blanc – Bordeaux, France
Bordeaux, France
The ranking above is made up of specific wine recommendations for the cocktails in this guide, all handpicked by experts.
The drinks served at Easter brunch should match the season: light, fresh, sometimes fruity and visually striking enough to feel like a celebration. Our cocktail recipes are distinct from the canon wine cocktails: no Aperol Spritzes, no French 75s and, no sangria you have made a hundred times before. Each one is built around a specific seasonal ingredient or theme that makes it feel unmistakably like Easter: lavender from the garden, fresh strawberries from the farm stand, raspberry purée, elderflower tonic and the pale blush of a great Provence rosé.
A note on Easter brunch quantities: Most of the recipes below are written for individual servings, but we also added notes on the batch cocktail multiplier for crowd service. Batch drinks are ideal for Easter brunch; all you have to do is prepare your spritzer or punch the night before, add the bubbles just before guests arrive, and let the drinks take care of themselves while you focus on the devilled eggs.
What makes a great Easter wine cocktail?
The defining characteristic of a great Easter wine cocktail is its ability to evoke the spirit of spring. It should be light enough for a midday brunch, aromatic enough to elicit visions of the garden coming back to life and visually beautiful enough to complement the table’s pastel palette. Easter cocktails lean toward the floral, fruity and effervescent rather than the heavy, smoky and spirit forward. Simplicity is the order of the day: a perfectly made Rosé Raspberry Fizz or a properly assembled Lavender Honey Champagne Fizz is a much more appropriate Easter brunch drink than an unnecessarily elaborate twelve ingredient cocktail that keeps you at the bar while your guests help themselves to Easter eggs.
A few principles worth keeping in mind as you plan your Easter drinks.
- First, rosé wine is your best friend at Easter: its pale blush colour coordinates perfectly with the season’s visual identity, its light, fresh character suits midday drinking and its red fruit and floral aromas make it an ideal combination with strawberries, raspberries and elderflower, the seasonal ingredients that define spring cocktails.
- Second, think in terms of batches: Easter is a social occasion and having a large pitcher or punch bowl ready when guests arrive is far more relaxing and festive than making individual cocktails to order.
- Third, let the garnishes do the storytelling: small details like a sprig of fresh lavender, an edible pansy frozen in an ice cube, or a slice of ripe strawberry balanced on the rim of a glass transform a good drink into a memorable one.
The 6 best Easter wine cocktails
Below, you will find six cocktails and recipes designed around wine, rather than spirits, to allow you to keep things light and celebratory. Each of them can be served as an aperitivo, a brunch drink, or sipped in relaxed afternoons. They’re also suitable for large batch preparation, especially if you’re entertaining a sizable number of people.
1. Raspberry Rosé Mimosa
The standard Mimosa, made of sparkling wine and orange juice, is a brunch institution, but for Easter specifically, a raspberry version built on rosé sparkling wine is both more seasonally appropriate and considerably more visually striking. The combination of fresh raspberry purée and a dry rosé creates a drink that is simultaneously more tart, more aromatic and more beautiful than the original. Its deep, jewel toned pink hue catches the light in the most flattering way and unlike the original, where the orange juice dominates, the raspberry version lets the sparkling wine shine, adding color and freshness without overwhelming the wine’s own character.
The technique is simple, but it is important that you use fresh or frozen raspberries, blended briefly and pushed through a fine sieve, rather than bottled raspberry juice. This yields a dramatic difference in aroma and colour. A tablespoon of fresh raspberry purée per flute is just right; enough to tint the wine and add a tart, fruity note without making the drink sweet or heavy.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 oz Brut Rosé sparkling wine (ice cold)
- 1 tbsp fresh raspberry purée (strained)
- Optional: a dash of raspberry liqueur (e.g., Chambord)
- Fresh raspberries and a mint leaf, for garnish
METHOD
- To make raspberry purée: blend 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries with 1 tsp sugar, then press through a fine sieve.
- Spoon the raspberry purée into the base of a chilled flute.
- Add the optional dash of Chambord.
- Pour the rosé sparkling wine slowly over the purée, tilting the glass and pouring the wine down the inside edge.
- The purée will rise and blend naturally as the wine is added.
- Garnish with two or three fresh raspberries and a small mint leaf. Serve immediately.
- For a batch of 8: scale up to 1 cup purée + 1 bottle rosé sparkling wine. Add wine per glass at the moment of service.
GLASS: Champagne flute or tulip glass (chilled)
GARNISH: Fresh raspberries and a small mint sprig
Gran Juve Gran Reserva Cava – Juvé & Camps 2018 – Cava, Spain
2. Lavender Honey Champagne Fizz
Lavender is the defining flavour of Provençal spring, elegant and delicious when made into a Lavender Honey Champagne Fizz. Combine a simple lavender infused honey syrup, fresh lemon juice and quality Brut Champagne to create a drink of unexpected complexity. This cocktail is floral, lightly sweet, citrus bright and thoroughly refreshing, with a pale lilac hue that makes it easily identifiable on any Easter table. You can make the lavender syrup up to a week in advance and store it in the refrigerator so that it’s readily available when you’re serving.
The lavender syrup is the soul of this drink and it requires care. Dried culinary lavender, not potpourri, should be used and the infusion time should be kept at a maximum of 20 to 30 minutes. Over infused lavender syrup becomes soapy and medicinal rather than the floral and fragrant style you’re going for. The lilac -gold hue is naturally gotten from the combination of the pale yellow syrup, lemon juice and Champagne, removing the need for artificial coloring.
INGREDIENTS
For the lavender honey syrup (makes enough for 8 drinks):
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup water
- 2 tbsp dried culinary lavender flowers
Per serving:
- ½ oz lavender honey syrup
- ½ oz fresh lemon juice
- 4 oz Brut Champagne (ice cold)
- Lavender sprig and lemon twist, for garnish
METHOD
- Make the syrup: combine honey and water in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir until the honey dissolves.
- Add lavender flowers. Remove from heat and steep for 20 minutes. Do not boil.
- Strain through a fine sieve, pressing gently. Cool completely before using. It can stay refrigerated for 1 week.
- To build the cocktail: combine lavender syrup and fresh lemon juice in a chilled flute.
- Pour the Champagne slowly over, tilting the glass to preserve the mousse.
- Stir once, very gently.
- Garnish with a fresh or dried lavender sprig and a small lemon twist.
GLASS: Champagne flute or coupe glass
GARNISH: Fresh lavender sprig and expressed lemon twist
Chassagne-Montrachet Morgeot Marquis de Laguiche Premier Cru 2023 – Burgundy, France
3. Easter Strawberry Frosé
Frosé; frozen rosé, blended to a silky, granita like slush, has become one very popular drink on the brunch table, beloved for its simplicity and refreshing taste. For Easter, a version loaded with fresh spring strawberries pushes the drink from pleasant to genuinely spectacular: the strawberries amplify the rosé’s own red fruit notes while turning the frosé a deep, irresistible coral hue. It requires no special equipment beyond a blender and a freezer and the entire preparation can be done hours in advance.
To prepare it, freeze the rosé in a shallow baking tray or zip lock bag until it is solid, then blend it with fresh strawberries, add a touch of honey for balance and a squeeze of lemon for brightness. The resulting drink should be the consistency of a silky soft serve or granita, pourable but thick, with a texture that holds its shape in the glass for at least ten minutes. The key is not to overblend, go for a few pulses, rather than a full minute at high speed. Serve immediately from the blender.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 bottle (750ml) dry Provence rosé
- 1.5 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and halved
- 2 tbsp honey or simple syrup
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- Optional: 1 oz strawberry liqueur (e.g., Fraise)
- Fresh strawberry slice and mint, for garnish
METHOD
- Pour the entire bottle of rosé into a shallow freezer safe container or two zip lock bags.
- Freeze for 5 to 6 hours or overnight until fully solid.
- When ready to serve, break the frozen rosé into chunks and add to a blender.
- Add the fresh strawberries, honey, lemon juice and the optional strawberry liqueur.
- Blend in short pulses until the mixture reaches a smooth, pourable slush consistency.
- Pour immediately into large coupes or wine glasses.
- Garnish with a fresh strawberry slice balanced on the rim and a mint sprig
- Serve immediately as the frosé softens quickly at room temperature.
GLASS: Large coupe glass or wide bowled wine glass
GARNISH: Fresh strawberry slice and mint sprig
Sauternes – Château d’Yquem 2016 – Bordeaux, France
4. Lillet & Elderflower Tonic
Lillet Blanc is a wine based aperitif from Bordeaux made from Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon, aromatised with citrus peel and blended with a small proportion of quinine infused liqueur. It sits somewhere between a dry white wine and a light vermouth, with a honey tinged, orange scented and gently sweet flavor profile, as well as a clean mineral finish. It makes one of the most satisfying low effort aperitifs on the market when served simply over ice with tonic. For Easter, pair it with a floral elderflower tonic and fresh cucumber to elevate it from a bar staple into a genuinely spring appropriate celebration drink.
Lillet & Elderflower tonic is the Easter table’s answer to the gin and tonic: a botanical and gently effervescent drink that is refreshing enough for a warm spring afternoon while also interesting enough to hold guests’ attention through the full length of a brunch aperitivo hour. The cucumber slice is essential for its cool and watery freshness which cuts through Lillet’s inherent sweetness to create a palate cleansing quality that makes the drink ideal alongside spring hors d’oeuvres.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 oz Lillet Blanc (well chilled)
- 3 oz elderflower tonic water (e.g., Fever-Tree Elderflower)
- 3 to 4 thin slices of cucumber
- Ice cubes
- Optional: ½ oz St Germain elderflower liqueur for extra floral depth
- Cucumber ribbon and lemon twist, for garnish
METHOD
- Fill a large wine glass or stemmed balloon glass generously with ice cubes.
- Add the cucumber slices directly into the glass.
- Pour the Lillet Blanc over the ice and cucumber.
- Add the optional dash of St Germain.
- Top with the elderflower tonic water, pouring slowly down the inside of the glass.
- Stir once, very gently.
- Garnish with a long cucumber ribbon draped over the rim and a lemon twist.
GLASS: Large balloon wine glass or Copa glass
GARNISH: Long cucumber ribbon and lemon twist
No wines found matching your criteria.
5. Rosé Champagne Spring Punch
Every Easter gathering needs a large format centrepiece drink that guests can help themselves to; something beautiful in a pitcher or punch bowl that sets the festive tone the moment it appears. This Rosé Champagne Spring Punch is that drink: a celebratory batch cocktail that combines rosé Champagne with fresh strawberries, peach liqueur, elderflower, citrus and a splash of sparkling water. It is the Easter equivalent of a great sangria, but lighter, more floral and calibrated for the spring rather than summer.
The base of the punch, that is, everything except the sparkling wine, can and should be prepared the night before. The strawberries and peach liqueur will macerate overnight into the elderflower and citrus, creating a fruit infused base of remarkable fragrance. At the moment your guests arrive, you simply pour the chilled rosé Champagne into the pitcher, add ice and ladle into glasses. The whole operation takes thirty seconds and produces the kind of effortless entertaining magic that makes everyone assume you spent hours on it.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 8 to 10 people:
- 2 bottles Rosé Champagne or quality Brut Rosé sparkling (well chilled)
- 2 oz elderflower liqueur (St Germain)
- 2 oz peach schnapps or peach liqueur
- 4 oz fresh orange juice
- 2 oz fresh lemon juice
- 1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
- 1 orange, thinly sliced into rounds
- 1 lemon, thinly sliced
- 3-4 oz soda water (added at the end)
- Ice block or large ice cubes
METHOD
- The night before: combine elderflower liqueur, peach schnapps, orange juice, lemon juice, sliced strawberries, orange rounds and lemon slices in a large pitcher or punch bowl.
- Stir gently, cover and refrigerate overnight.
- When guests arrive: add a large ice block or generous ice cubes to the pitcher.
- Pour in the chilled rosé Champagne bottles slowly, tilting the pitcher to preserve the bubbles.
- Add the soda water last, stir once gently.
- Ladle into large wine glasses, making sure each glass gets plenty of the macerated fruit.
- Garnish each glass with a fresh strawberry slice on the rim.
GLASS: Large wine glass or punch cup, ladled from a pitcher
GARNISH: Fresh strawberry slice on the rim and optional edible flower
Norheimer Kirschheck Riesling Spätlese 2023 – Dönnhoff
6. Cherry Blossom Pinot Sour
The Cherry Blossom Pinot Sour is the Easter version of a wine based sour. This is a shaken cocktail that uses Pinot Noir as its primary base (rather than as a float, as is done in the New York Sour from our wine cocktails guide). Pinot Noir is combined with fresh lemon juice, a cherry honey syrup and a whisper of balsamic vinegar that adds an unexpected savoury depth. The result is a drink that is zesty, silky, fruity and gently complex; more interesting and substantive than a spritz, but lighter and more spring -appropriate than a spirit -forward sour. The optional egg white creates a silky foam that makes the drink look as beautiful as a Japanese cherry blossom, which is exactly the reference point for its name.
The balsamic vinegar sounds counterintuitive, but it is transformative: a few drops introduce a sweet and sour complexity that deepens the cherry and Pinot Noir flavours and prevents the drink from tasting one -dimensional. Use a quality aged balsamic vinegar, even a mid -range supermarket aged variety makes a noticeable difference and be sure to add it in drops rather than splashes. This is technically the most demanding of our six Easter cocktails, but it is also the most impressive and the one most likely to generate conversation at the brunch table.
INGREDIENTS
For the cherry honey syrup (makes enough for 6 drinks):
- ½ cup pitted cherries (fresh or frozen)
- ½ cup honey
- ½ cup water
Per serving:
- 2 oz Pinot Noir
- ¾ oz fresh lemon juice
- ¾ oz cherry honey syrup
- 3-4 drops aged balsamic vinegar
- Optional: half an egg white (for foam)
- Ice cubes
- A fresh cherry and lemon twist, for garnish
METHOD
- Make the cherry honey syrup: combine cherries, honey and water in a small saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes, crush cherries gently, then strain and cool.
- To build the cocktail: add the Pinot Noir, lemon juice, cherry syrup and balsamic drops to a shaker.
- If using egg white: add first and dry shake (no ice) vigorously for 10 seconds.
- Add ice and shake vigorously for 12 seconds until very cold.
- Double strain (using both the shaker strainer and a fine mesh) into a chilled coupe glass.
- The foam will sit naturally on top as it rests.
- Garnish with a single fresh cherry and a small lemon twist.
GLASS: Chilled coupe glass
GARNISH: Fresh cherry and lemon twist
Barbera d’Asti Bricco della Bigotta 2019 – Braida
Which Easter cocktail to serve and when: a quick pairing guide
Easter typically unfolds across several distinct moments, beginning from the arrival aperitivo hour, to the main brunch or dinner table and the languid afternoon that follows.The best approach is to think of your drink menu in terms of this natural progression rather than trying to serve one cocktail throughout the entire event.
On arrival (aperitivo hour): the Lillet & Elderflower Tonic and the Raspberry Rosé Mimosa are both ideal welcome drinks. They are light, beautiful in appearance and low enough in alcohol to drink comfortably on an empty stomach. Both are also quick to assemble on demand.
Through brunch: the Rosé Champagne Spring Punch, prepared the night before, is the ideal self service centrepiece for the brunch table. Its generous yield, beautiful colour and fruit forward character make it universally popular and the batch format means no one has to play bartender during the meal itself.
As the afternoon sun warms up, the Easter Strawberry Frosé comes into its own when the temperature rises after lunch. It is the most visually dramatic of the six drinks and works perfectly as a dessert accompaniment or mid afternoon refreshment.
For the cocktail enthusiasts, the Lavender Honey Champagne Fizz and the Cherry Blossom Pinot Sour are the two drinks for guests who want something more interesting and composed than a simple spritz. Both reward attention to technique and make excellent conversation starters.
Easter cocktail tips for a stress free brunch
Here are a few of our cocktail tips for a stress free Easter brunch:
- Make your syrups the day before: both the lavender honey syrup and the cherry honey syrup keep well in the refrigerator for up to a week. Preparing them in advance means the actual cocktail making process on Easter morning happens in minutes.
- Freeze the frosé overnight: if you are planning to serve the Strawberry Frosé, freeze the rosé the evening before and have the strawberries prepped in the blender, ready to blend at the moment of service.
- Prepare a half bottle of Champagne per person for sparkling cocktails: at Easter brunch, where multiple sparkling wine cocktails may be served over a few hours, planning for roughly half a bottle of sparkling wine per guest is a useful rule of thumb. Half bottles (375ml) are ideal for cocktail use, minimising waste and keeping the wine fresh in the glass.
- Use edible flowers as garnishes: spring flowers, such as pansies, violets, nasturtiums and borage, are some of the most effective garnishing tools for Easter cocktails. A single edible pansy floating in a Raspberry Rosé Mimosa or a frozen edible violet in the ice cube of a Lillet Tonic transforms the visual impact of a drink effortlessly. Most good supermarkets carry edible flowers in spring.
- Batch and chill everything possible: the stress of Easter entertaining is almost eliminated if you prepare as much as possible in advance. All six recipes here have components that benefit from overnight preparation. Use that time and the results will be noticeably better, making you a much more relaxed host.
Final thoughts
Easter is one of those occasions where the drinks table genuinely completes the celebration; where the right cocktail, served at the right moment in the right glass, becomes as much a part of the memory as the food, the flowers and the company. The six wine based Easter cocktails in this guide are all designed to be made at home without specialist equipment or professional technique, using wines and ingredients that are widely available and genuinely enjoyable on their own. Whether it is the drama of the Strawberry Frosé or the quiet elegance of the Lavender Honey Champagne Fizz, the Rosé Champagne Spring Punch’s bubbly warmth or the composed complexity of the Cherry Blossom Pinot Sour, there is something here for every Easter table, every guest and every moment in the long, beautiful arc of a spring day shared with people you love.
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FAQs on Easter Wine Cocktails
What are some Easter wine cocktails to serve at brunch?
Elevate your Easter brunch with our recommended Easter wine cocktails, including the Raspberry Rosé Mimosa, the Lavender Honey Champagne Fizz, the Easter Strawberry Frosé, our classic Lillet & Elderflower Tonic cocktail, the Rosé Champagne Spring Punch and the Cherry Blossom Pinot Sour. Our “Easter Wine Cocktail” guide provides recipes as well as wine recommendations for each of these drinks.
What is a simple Easter wine cocktail to make?
The Raspberry Rosé Mimosa, made from brut rosé sparkling wine, fresh raspberry purée and the optional dash of raspberry liqueur, is one of the simplest Easter wine cocktails you can make. You can also try the Lavender Honey Champagne Fizz, a 3 ingredient cocktail made from lavender honey syrup, fresh lemon juice and ice cold brut Champagne.
What Easter wine cocktails can be made with red wine?
The Cherry Blossom Pinot Sour is an Easter wine cocktail you can make with a red wine, as it uses Pinot Noir as its primary base. To create this drink, combine Pinot Noir with fresh lemon juice, cherry honey syrup and a dash of balsamic vinegar. We recommend using the ripe and silky Meiomi Pinot Noir for this drink and you can find the full recipe in our “Easter Wine Cocktails” guide right here on this page.
Can I make Easter wine cocktails in batches?
Yes, you can make Easter wine cocktails in batches to save time, allowing you to prep ahead and serve guests quickly. Our Rosé Champagne Spring Punch is a particularly batch friendly centerpiece, crafted from rosé Champagne, fresh strawberries, peach liqueur, elderflower, citrus and sparkling water. It can be prepared the night before and if you follow our recipe, you can get enough to serve 8 to 10 people.
How to make an Easter wine cocktail?
Create an Easter wine cocktail by mixing sparkling wines like Champagne with fresh, seasonal ingredients like strawberry purée, elderflower liqueur or raspberries. Some popular options are the Raspberry Rosé Mimosa, the Lavender Honey Champagne Fizz, the Easter Strawberry Frosé and the Rosé Champagne Spring Punch.
What Easter wine cocktails can be made with rosé sparkling wine?
The Raspberry Rosé Mimosa, Easter Strawberry Frosé and Rosé Champagne Spring Punch are some delicious wine cocktails you can create with rosé sparkling wines. To create the Raspberry Rosé Mimosa, combine brut rosé sparkling wine, fresh raspberry purée and raspberry liqueur, while the Easter Strawberry Frosé requires a dry Provence rosé, fresh strawberries, lemon juice and honey syrup.
