When the afternoon is too hot for a glass of anything at room temperature, frosé is the answer. It is frozen rosé, blended into a pale-pink slushie, and it has become the unofficial drink of summer for good reason: it is cold, it is easy, and it needs nothing more than a blender and a freezer.
What Is Frosé?
Frosé is simply rosé wine frozen and blended into a slushie, usually with a little sugar and fruit to round it out. Popularised by a New York bar a few summers back, it has since turned up everywhere from rooftop menus to back gardens. The texture sits somewhere between a sorbet and a cocktail.
The Best Wine for Frosé
This is the one place where pale, delicate Provence-style rosé is not your friend, because freezing and sweetening flatten its subtlety. Instead choose a dry but boldly fruity rosé with a deeper pink colour, the kind made from Grenache or a Zinfandel rosé. It should be cheap and cheerful, since the blender does the finishing. Our rosé for beginners guide explains the dry styles to look for.
How to Make Frosé at Home
- Pour a bottle of rosé into a shallow tray and freeze for at least six hours. Alcohol stops it freezing solid, so you get a thick slush rather than a brick.
- Scrape the frozen rosé into a blender with a handful of ice, a small splash of sugar syrup, a squeeze of lemon, and a few strawberries.
- Blend until smooth, taste, and adjust. It should be tart and fruity, not sugary.
- Serve at once in a chilled glass.
A higher-alcohol rosé makes a softer, scoopable slush; a lighter one freezes harder, so add a touch more ice and blend a little longer.
Three More Frozen Wine Drinks
- Frozen sangria. Blend leftover sangria with ice for a fruitier, boozier slushie.
- Sparkling granita. Freeze dry sparkling in a tray, scrape with a fork every half hour, and serve the icy flakes in a small glass.
- Red wine slushie. A chilled, fruity, low-tannin red blends into a surprisingly good frozen treat, especially with a little berry.
A Few Tips
Go easy on the sugar, keep a squeeze of citrus for freshness, and serve frozen drinks the moment they are blended, as they melt fast in the heat. For grab-and-go cold instead of blended, a chilled can does the trick.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is frosé?
Frosé is frozen rosé wine blended into a slushie, usually with a little sugar and fruit. The alcohol stops it freezing solid, so you get a thick, scoopable texture between a sorbet and a cocktail. It is one of the easiest summer drinks to make.
What is the best wine for frosé?
Choose a dry but boldly fruity rosé with a deeper pink colour, such as a Grenache or Zinfandel rosé. Pale, delicate Provence-style rosé loses its subtlety once frozen and sweetened, so pick something cheap and fruity to blend.
How do you make frosé?
Freeze a bottle of rosé in a shallow tray for at least six hours, then blend the slush with a handful of ice, a little sugar syrup, a squeeze of lemon and a few strawberries. Blend until smooth, taste, and serve straight away in a chilled glass.
Explore with Sommo
The best frosé starts with the right rosé, and the only way to find your favourite is to taste a few. Scan the rosés you try with Sommo across the summer, log which had the bold, fruity character that survives the blender, and you will know exactly which bottle to freeze next time.
Download Sommo free and turn a bottle of rosé into the coolest drink of the summer.