National Spritz Day Countdown: Traveling the World One Spritz at a Time with Jamie Knee
Celebrating National Spritz Day, by Jamie Knee
Chandon Spritz, with Jamie Knee, Founder of National Spritz Day
There are some drinks that do more than refresh us. They carry mood, and a sense of place. They carry a whole way of living that feels instantly transportive from the very first sip. That is part of what I have always loved about the spritz, and it is exactly why I founded National Spritz Day, celebrated each year on August 1. National Spritz Day Founder
This year, I am doing something a little more expansive with it.
National Spritz Day-Wine Travel with Petite Wine Traveler- Two Elegant Spritz Cocktails
The Spritz as a Passport to Place
I am beginning a countdown to National Spritz Day through the lens of Wine as a Passport, the philosophy that has shaped so much of my work as a luxury wine travel writer and global wine presenter. If wine can help us understand a destination more deeply, then cocktails, especially the great wine based aperitivo cocktails of the world, can do something similar. They can introduce us to a region’s rhythm, its traditions, its golden hour, its appetite, and the way people gather when the day softens into evening. Wine As A Passport
That is what this month long journey is about. For the weeks leading up to August 1, I will be traveling through some of the places that most inspire me through the language of the spritz. We will begin where the classic spritz was born, in the Veneto, and from there move outward into South Tyrol, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, the English countryside, the Caribbean, and the American coasts that have embraced sparkling wine and aperitivo culture in their own way.
National Spritz Day: Enjoying a St. Germain Spritz
St. Germain for National Spritz Day
A Global Countdown to National Spritz Day
Some of these destinations are already deeply tied to spritz culture. Others reflect the larger idea behind my work, that a wine based cocktail can become a doorway into place just as naturally as a bottle can. Change the sparkling wine, change the bitter element, change the garnish, change the setting, and suddenly you are somewhere else entirely. National Spritz Day Chandon Ready to Serve
That is the beauty of the spritz. Light enough for summer yet layered enough for travel, it invites variation without losing its identity. Effortlessly elegant, it sits at the intersection of wine, leisure, hospitality, and place, which makes it a natural extension of the world I have been building through Petite Wine Traveler.
More than anything, I love the way the spritz encourages people to slow down. Rarely rushed, a great spritz belongs on a terrace, in a piazza, beside the sea, in a garden, at a mountain hotel bar, or at the beginning of a long dinner where no one is in a hurry to leave. More than a cocktail, it often feels like the opening note of an experience, signaling that travel has begun, evening is arriving, and pleasure has its own kind of cultural importance. Forbes Guide Alternative Spritz Cocktails
National Spritz Day cocktails, exploring wine as a passport.
Moving Through the World One Glass at a Time
That is why this countdown feels so right to me. It gives me a way to move through the world one glass at a time, but also one story at a time. A spritz in northern Italy does not feel the same as a sparkling aperitivo in Spain or a wine based spritz serve on a terrace overlooking the Aegean Sea. Each carries its own character. Each reflects a different landscape, a different hospitality tradition, a different kind of summer.
And that is precisely what I want to share. Over the coming weeks, I will be counting down to National Spritz Day across my channels, taking readers and followers through these destinations without giving everything away at once. The recipes, pairings, and full reveals will come in their own time. For now, I want to begin where all good spritz conversations should begin, with the classic. Sparkling wines around the world
Where the Journey Begins: The Classic Aperol Spritz
The Aperol Spritz remains the starting point for so many of us, and for good reason. It is bright, bittersweet, unmistakably Italian, and forever tied to the easy glamour of aperitivo hour. It is the drink that introduced many people to the larger world of spritz culture, and it remains one of the most recognizable examples of how a cocktail can become inseparable from a place.
It is incredible to see how major cocktail authorities have embraced the holiday since I founded it, like the Difford’s Guide Guide to National Spritz Day which breaks down traditional variations. Diffords Guide-More National Spritz Day Coverage
Milan Wine Travel at the Duomo, with an Aperol Spritz
For me, that is where the journey begins. Not with a recipe card, but with a point of view.
This countdown is not only about what to drink. But it is about where a drink can take you. Or about how a glass can hold memory, destination, and atmosphere all at once. It is about why cocktails, like wine, can become passports of their own.
So yes, I will be counting down to National Spritz Day. But more than that, I will be inviting my readers to travel with me, one sparkling, bittersweet, beautifully placed stop at a time.
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About Jamie Knee
Jamie Knee is the founder of National Spritz Day and the creator of Wine as a Passport, a philosophy and presentation platform exploring how wine connects people more deeply to place, culture, hospitality, and travel. Through Petite Wine Traveler, she writes, speaks, and presents on luxury wine travel, enotourism, and destination storytelling around the world. Contact Jamie Knee
