Wine as a Passport: The Spritz as a Way of Traveling

A wine travel journey through spritz culture, National Spritz Day, and the places behind the glass. By Jamie Knee

Wine Travel Milan with a Spritz

Dear friends,

Welcome back to another beautiful, dreamy Sunday.

There are some drinks that do more than refresh us.

They set a mood, suggest a destination. Some drinks, carry in one chilled and sparkling glass, an entire way of being in the world. That is how I have always felt about the spritz. It arrives already touched by light, by leisure, by place, by the particular beauty of late afternoon softening into evening.

As many of you know, I founded National Spritz Day, celebrated every August 1, because I believed this effortless ritual deserved a day of its own. What has moved me most over time is not only how many people love a spritz, but how naturally it fits into the larger philosophy that has shaped so much of my work. Wine as a Passport has always been about the way a glass can guide us into a culture, a landscape, a memory, a table, a mood. The spritz does this with uncommon grace.

Over the next few summer weeks, I will be counting down to National Spritz Day one glass at a time, traveling through wine regions and aperitivo cultures across the world. What began in the Veneto, where the classic spritz first found its rhythm, has already carried me into South Tyrol for the Hugo, into Burgundy for a Kir Royale inspired pour, into Andalusia for Tinto de Verano, into Austria’s Wachau for a Grüner Veltliner spritzer, and into my own American summer imagination for a red, white, and blue sparkling creation in honor of our country’s 250th. ( I’m sharing these across my Petite Wine Traveler Instagram Daily)

Wine Travel Amalfi with a Spritz

Each drink has reminded me that a spritz is never only a recipe.

A spritz is atmosphere. A spritz is context. A spritz is often the first soft note of evening, the thing placed in your hand before dinner, before conversation deepens, before the sky changes color.

It belongs on terraces and in piazzas, beside the sea and at mountain hotels, in hidden gardens and polished bars, wherever people gather not simply to drink, but to savor where they are.

That is why this countdown has felt so meaningful to me. I am not only sharing spritz recipes. I am sharing a way of traveling. I’m sharing Wine and Spritz as a Passport.

Wine Travel with a Hugo Spritz

Change the sparkling wine and you change the texture of the moment. Change the bitter liqueur, the herb, the citrus, the garnish, and suddenly you are somewhere else entirely. One glass can hint at northern Italy, another at alpine freshness, another at sun soaked Spain, another at a bright Southern Hemisphere vineyard where the air feels almost electric with possibility. Through the language of the spritz, I find myself returning again to the same idea that has guided so much of my work. Drinks, like wines, can carry a sense of place.

And perhaps that should not surprise us. The best spritzes begin with wine. Prosecco, sparkling rosé, Sekt, Cava, Champagne, Grüner, vinho verde, or another regional expression of freshness and brightness. The structure may be playful, but the soul is still rooted in wine. That is why the spritz belongs so naturally in the world I have been building through Petite Wine Traveler. It sits at the intersection of wine, travel, culture, hospitality, and golden hour beauty.

Wine Travel Mediterranean Sea with a Spritz

More than anything, I love the way a spritz encourages people to slow down. A great spritz is rarely rushed. It asks you to linger a little longer, to notice the light on the table, to feel the breeze if there is one, to settle into the hour rather than push through it. In a world forever urging speed, there is something quietly luxurious about a drink that insists on pleasure.

That may be why the spritz travels so beautifully. It is not only a cocktail style. It is a state of mind.

As I continue this journey toward August 1, I find myself thinking less about the category and more about the invitation. What does this drink reveal about the place it comes from. What does it teach us about hospitality, ritual, and season. Why do some drinks feel so inseparable from the landscapes that shaped them. These are the questions that interest me most, and they are the reason I believe the spritz deserves more than a quick summer mention. It deserves its own passport.

Wine As A Passport-Petite Wine Traveler

There are still many stops ahead in this countdown, and that is part of the joy. Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, England, the Caribbean, and more. Each one offers its own mood, its own possibility, its own way of telling the story through bubbles, bitterness, brightness, and place.

For now, though, I am simply enjoying the fact that the spritz gives us such a lovely way to move through summer. Not hurriedly, not heavily, but beautifully.

That, to me, is a passport worth following.

Until next Sunday, may your glass continue to guide you, your curiosity remain wide open, and your travels be filled with beauty.

With love from the road, xo
Jamie Knee