It's hot, it's humid, you've been working out in the back 40 all day, you're tired, thirsty and if you're anything like me, somewhat cranky too. The worst part is you're also out of ideas. You've had more lemonade than humanly possible over the first half of summer, drank 9 bottles of water this morning, soda is just too sweet for the heat and a beer just isn't doing the trick. Where to turn? This is a serious problem I know but bear with me - I have a solution and it works using a rather maligned grape from right here at home - Gewürztraminer. Don't laugh - it's the perfect grape for this!

Spritzers are a very old-world drink. Still incredibly pop­ular in Germany, Hungary and many other mid and eastern European countries, the spritzer goes back to the invention of sparkling water itself. Spritzers are one of those summer drinks that are incredibly easy to screws up. Just think of those sickly sweet pre-made wine coolers. Those are mass- made commercial versions of the classic spritzer and they are nasty for one main reason - too much sugar completely ruins the effect. Not only that but overly sweet commercial "spritzers" have leant a bad aura to an otherwise awesome and dignified summer quaf so it would be a good idea to try one that you make from scratch before deciding that these are not for you. For instance adding a simple syrup to seltzer water with a cherry? NO! Stop that! And just because you put a slice of lime in your fizzy water? That does not qualify as a proper spritzer but there is a solution and it's easy!

Like anything else, thought and care go into a proper drink and just because it doesn't have hard alcohol in it like a cocktail doesn't mean that these won't take that edge off.

Gewürztraminer - pronounced GEH-vurz-trah-MEE-ner - is a perfectly suited grape to this task. It has some awesome floral qualities like white peaches and lychee fruit, some cit­rus notes and a touch of honey. The flavor aa touch of natural sweetness that is ever present and has enough body to it as a wine that lightening it up always works wonders.

Here's how you do it. You'll need some fresh mint, a couple of limes, some soda water, sparkling water or club soda (the same thing I assure you), crushed ice and a bottle or two of Washington state Gewürztraminer. Get yourself a tall glass and wipe the inside and rim with lime. Fill the glass half way with crushed ice and lay a couple of leaves of mint on top of that layer. Take a spoon and smash the mint into the ice a couple of times and then fill the rest of the glass with more crushed ice. Fill half the glass with some awesome Washington state Gewürztraminer and top off with the soda water. Drop the lime wedge that you used to wipe the glass onto the ice. Stir with a straw, hand to your guest, make another one immediately because by the time you go to pick up yours, theirs will be gone.

Here are some good, inexpensive Gewürztraminer's to pick up expressly for this purpose. Do NOT use expen­sive wine for this! Chateau St. Michelle makes a per­fect Gewürztraminer for spritzers. It is inexpensive (should be around $7/bottle) and has a nice blast of tan­gerines, pears and clove to give your spritzer a lot of flavor. Next up is the Para­dise Peak brand which has a good medium body with lots of apples, pears, peaches, ginger and honey to it. It's a tic more expensive that the Chateau St. Michelle - around $9/bottle - so you may want to stick with the first suggestion - this is a spritzer after all.

You can make spritzers out of other wines as well though you will want to stick with the floral variet­ies like riesling, muscat and viognier if gewürztraminer really isn't your thing but I would recommend you try this first - it's delicious and you may wind up finding a whole new use for a grape that you never buy other­wise. Cheershellip;