In recent years, granizado de vino (frozen wine slushies) have gained widespread popularity across the country. The combination of wine, fruit flavors, sugar, and other sometimes exotic ingredients combine to create an enticing taste. However, when you freeze this concoction, that’s when your tongue throws a party for your mouth. Freezing it or making it in a blender makes a difference. Refreshing beyond description.

There are two ways to make wine granitas. One is to find a good recipe, buy all the ingredients and make it from scratch.

The other way is to buy a dry wine slush mix to which you simply add your favorite wine (any type of wine, even champagne) and water. Just mix it all up and freeze it. That’s all about it.

Let’s explore option number one: here are some wine slushies recipes to make from scratch.

WINE GRANITA RECIPE

1 (12 oz.) frozen orange juice

1 Hawaiian punch (48 oz.)

juice of 2 lemons

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 bottle of wine

Stir and freeze. Use 1/2 7-Up and 1/2 granita.

WINE GRANITA RECIPE

2 tbsp. sugar and 1 c. water, boiled, simmered for 10 minutes and cooled

1 orange juice concentrate (12 oz.)

1 (12 oz.) lemonade concentrate

2 tbsp. Water

1/2 gallon Bountiful Burgundy

Mix and freeze. To serve: Make individual glasses. Fill half the glass with the frozen mixture and the other half with 7-Up.

CELEBRATION WINE SLICE RECIPE

4 cans (6 oz.) frozen mandarin or orange juice concentrate

2 points pineapple sorbet

3 tablespoons water

Slices or wedges of orange, lemon or lime

Dry white wine, champagne, rum, vodka, sparkling water or lemon-lime carbonated beverage, chilled

Slightly thaw concentrate; stir sorbet to soften. Stir concentrate and water into straw. Freeze 5 hours. Pour 2 tablespoons of slush into a glass; to choose the drink. Decorate with a slice of fruit. makes 9 1/2 cups of slush, or about 60 to 75 servings.

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These are all delicious frozen wine drinks, however they are expensive due to all the different ingredients you have to buy. Plus, they require a trip to the store to buy all the ingredients. Some recipes are also a hassle to make. This doesn’t say much for convenience.

Our next option is the mix of dry wine granitas. This option eliminates all the negative aspects mentioned above. As the manufacturer of a dry wine slush mix, I can tell you that people buy these mixes for a variety of reasons.

First, they are super convenient. All you need is the blend and your favorite wine. Simply add wine and water to the mixture, and stir until the mixture is completely dissolved. Put it in the freezer for 4 to 8 hours, or overnight. Scoop it out and use a spoon to stir it all together until you get the right consistency and serve.

No measuring sugar, no slicing lemons or limes, no scooping straws, no boiling water and sugar on the stove, etc. You simply stir the wine and water into the mix and voila. That is convenience.

Convenience isn’t all that wine slushies have to offer. No matter how convenient a product is, if it doesn’t taste good, it’s not good. The fact that millions of bags of granita wine are sold and enjoyed each year speaks for itself. If it didn’t taste good, no one would buy it. It obviously tastes good. Very good.

If you have any leftovers or if something melts, just pop it back in the freezer and it’ll be just as good next time. This is not always true with some of their “from scratch” recipes. It will stay frozen in your freezer for at least 9 months and taste like it was made last night. Before you make a batch, it will stay good in your cabinet for a full year.

Versatility also comes into play here. The mixtures do not need any specific type of wine. It takes the profile of any type of wine you use, even champagne. However, you might be surprised that many, many people buy it because you can use it for a non-alcoholic slush mix. You can use it with non-alcoholic wine, ginger ale, cranberry juice, pomegranate juice, apple juice, grape juice, and sparkling juices. Moms love this for kids.

Another nice aspect of some of the wine slushies mixes is that they also come in nice decorated gift bags. These are wonderful hostess gifts, birthday gifts, Christmas gifts, etc. A bag or two of the slush wine mix with a bottle of wine is a perfect gift for any occasion. Some companies even have other wine-related items, such as wine charms, flattened and decorated wine bottles, wine sauce mixes, etc., that you can add to make a personalized wine-themed gift basket.

Whether you go for the number one option or dry mixes, wine slushies are delicious and here to stay. Enjoy!