Holiday Sangria

By:  Mark Adams

Mark is the founder of Amber Crest Winery, a professional winemaker, author and frequent speaker on wine.  He currently teaches wine classes throughout the United States.  This is an excerpt from his Really Fun Sangria Book

Before we talk about specifics, lets first talk about some basics in making any holiday sangria.

There are many different types of sangria but fruit Sangria is probably the most versatile of all sangrias.

Obviously fruit sangria is redundant, but when I say fruit, I really mean sangria made with different fruits as the base flavor.

The basic recipes are similar, you just adjust the base.

You can strain certain fruit or even puree them in the blender.  If you prefer, you can substitute a liqueur for the fruit base.  A liqueur is just a flavored and distilled spirit.  They have great taste and are less in alcohol percentage to traditional distilled liquors.

So here are a couple of holiday sangria recipes with variations that I know you’ll like.  So enjoy these or create your own!

Holiday Sangria Recipe

It’s Time for the Holidays Mulled Sangria

It’s the Christmas season and you’re having a holiday party.  Or maybe it’s just cold and you want to shake off the winter blues.  If so, this sangria has always been a big hit.  BTW, this mixture is great to serve in all of those holiday coffee mugs you’ve collected over the years.

Ingredients

• 1 bottle of red wine
• ½ cup of simple syrup
• 1 packet Mulling Spice Blend (can be purchased in spice section of grocery store or online)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 2 cups of strawberries (or 1 16 ounce frozen bag, defrost first)
• 1 orange sliced
• 8 ounces of carbonated water
• Cinnamon sticks and shaved nutmeg can be added for garnish if desired.

Directions

Make simple syrup.  Add 1 cup of wine and spice packet to saucepan.  Simmer for 4 minutes.  Cool and throw away spice packet.  Add remaining ingredients.  Can be served immediately or reheated several hours later.

This sangria should be served slightly warm.  If it cools off reheat until slightly warm.  Be careful not to boil.

Spooky Halloween Holiday Sangria Recipe

Halloween parties continue to grow every year and there’s no need to leave out the adults.  The fun in this sangria is the “fixins”.   It would be even better If you list the ingredients on a card on front of the bowl.  OK, usually that wouldn’t be very appetizing and is kind of creepy, but it’s Halloween and people will get a kick out of the idea and they make ooohhhh sounds.

Ingredients

• 1 bottle “blood” red wine
• 4 tablespoons of ghost white sugar
• 1 peach “gutted and pitted”
• 1 orange “hacked and chopped”
• 1 lime “”hacked and chopped”
• 1 ghastly green apple “sliced by Freddie Kreuger”
• 8 ounces of carbonated “witch’s cauldron” water
• Top with gummy worms – optional

Directions

Mix all ingredients together except the carbonated water and let stand in a pitcher for at least 4 hours in the refrigerator.  Add the carbonated water, stir with the handle of a witch’s broom just before serving.

If you would like to learn more about sangria, click here

Feel free to make adjustments to the ingredients or quantities above.  Nothing here is intended as an absolute.

One thing that teaching wine classes has taught me is that people have very different tastes.

Sangria typically isn’t expensive so have fun in experimenting with different batches until you find the ones you like best.

Until then, Cheers!

Here are a couple of additional tips on serving your new creation!

Temperature

Sangria is meant to be served cold.  Make sure you store your Sangria in the refrigerator for several hours before serving.

Not only will that allow the flavors in the wine and fruit to marinate and become more flavorable, but also it will reduce the need for ice, if you are serving within a short time.

Glasses

Because of the fruit and maybe ice, Sangria glasses need to be pretty big compared to other glasses.  I would suggest you use the biggest glasses you have.

If you’re looking to buy new glasses, go anywhere where they sell wine glasses and get some of the biggest ones they carry.  You can also use them for your next wine party or after that hard day of work!

For additional sangria recipes and information go to our website SangriaRecipesOnline.com