peaches in wine, 2 ways

At any given time, you could find the following in my grandmother’s fridge: homemade chocolate mousse, gruyere cheese, and a bowl of juicy sweet peaches soaked in wine for my grandpa.

“Got any peaches?” he would ask. “I could really go for some peaches in wine tonight!” 

He loved enjoying this dessert while relaxing in his favorite chair after dinner.

My grandmother was French. He was Italian… a food marriage made in heaven (and a huge DNA perk for our family!).

As a kid however, I was only interested in the chocolate mousse.

The peaches? Not so much.

I didn’t realize their appeal until I was an adult.

And here, we’re doing it 2 ways.

As with any simple dish, your ingredients need to be spot on.

Choose ripe peaches that are soft but firm to the touch (does that even make sense?).

For the wine, don’t go crazy here. Choose a bottle of red you’d normally like to drink.

I’d recommend something dry- cabernet, pinot noir, chianti- to compliment the sweetness of the fruit. I tend to steer away from ‘jammy’ wines as they’re a little too fruity for my taste.

But like I said, choose whatever you’d like.

Cut the peaches into wedges and toss with sugar. You want them sweet, but not too sweet.

By the way, when you halve the peaches (before cutting into wedges) scoop out some of the fruit underneath the pit. It tends to be slightly bitter which you don’t want in your drink.

Then squeeze some lemon over the top.

Macerate for about 15 minutes while you look for wine glasses.

Fill each glass with juicy peaches and bit of the fruit syrup puddled at the bottom of the bowl (yum!).

Then, top with wine or chilled bubbly prosecco.

Let the fruit sit for 30 minutes so the flavors can infuse. Don’t rush this step.

Enjoy as a happy hour cocktail or a simple guilt free dessert on a balmy summer night!

Print