A few years ago, the hubby and I found ourselves waiting for a friend downtown and decided to slip in to a quaint little bar to kill the time over a drink. We both immediately selected ‘The North Shore’ from the menu as we were going through a bit of an ice wine phase and had never seen it incorporated into a cocktail before. In our excitement, we overlooked the price and almost fell off our chairs when the bill came for a whopping $52! Although we didn’t intend for our time-waster to cost more than the dinner that followed, we both still talk about The North Shore as the ultimate summer cocktail, so I guess there was some value in that $52 after all. The good news for us (and now you!) is that The North Shore (more commonly referred to as an ice wine martini) can be recreated at home for a fraction of the cost. That said, good quality vodka is key to this refreshing beverage that really packs a punch.

You’ll need:

– 1.5 oz good quality vodka (I like to use Kettle One)

– 1.5 oz ice wine (I like to use an Ontario VQA Riesling as they are delicious and local)

– green grapes, stored in freezer for at least 2 hrs

Now what?:

– in a chilled martini glass, combine vodka and ice wine

– drop in 2-3 frozen grapes, and you’re done!

– you’ll notice that there is no additional ingredient to cut the alcohol content (the sweetness of the ice wine takes care of that) so take these babies down slow.

Fun fact! Ice wine is a sweet dessert wine made from grapes that have frozen on the vine. Canada and Germany are actually the world’s largest producers of ice wine (for obvious, frigid reasons) with 75% of Canadian ice wine coming from Ontario. Booyah!

Enjoy your weekend,

xo Ali