Traditional Spanish Sangria

One of the many pleasures of Spain is the multitude of different recipes for the making of Sangria, a popular summer wine drink. 

When I was a teenager I lived in the north central part of Spain in a city by the name of Zaragoza (named after Cesar Augustus: Zar = Cesar and Agoza = Augustus - the Roman emperor – don’t forget that the Romans had conquered and started to populated the Spanish peninsula as early as 206 BC), and in the very hot and dry summer months when the air was still and the temperature reached excesses of 110 degrees for days on end, I still remember that on those really hot days, my father would casually walk into the kitchen and my sister and I would hear him pulling out the large silver bowl and embark on a fruit chopping spree in an effort to make the right Sangria for us to enjoy, typically with a large salad. We would all sit around the large dining room table and feast on a huge, fresh salad with lots of vegetables and along with a cool, silky-smooth glass of sangria. 

When you are in Spain you will find that everyone says they have the perfect recipe for the absolute best sangria, and you will have to try as many as you can to formulate your own preferences.  But the fun thing about this is, given that every restaurant, every bar and every home makes it slightly different you can embark on your own taste testing tour-de-force and try to identify the right one for you!

Cool Glass of Sangria

The good news is that you really can’t mess up making a sangria that tastes great and is refreshing to boot.  Give this recipe a try, and add fruit to your heart’s content until you have the exact mix that makes it perfect for you:

Recipe for Sangria 

INGREDIENTS:

·      1 bottle of affordable Garnacha (also called Grenache) or Pinot Noir or other fruity low-tannin red wine, chilled

·      1 large orange,

·      1 cup thinly sliced seasonal fruit (I like Granny Smith apple or pear, strawberries, peaches or nectarines, pineapple or a combination)

·      1 small lemon, sliced into thin rounds

·      ½ cup brandy

·      ½ cup of simple syrup, to taste

·      1 liter of 7-UP, preferably sugar free so as not to make the sangria too sweet

·      1 can of regular full sugar Coca Cola

·      Ice, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. To prepare the orange, slice it in half from the stem end downward. Squeeze the juice of one-half of the orange into a pitcher. Thinly slice the remaining orange half and place the slices into the pitcher.

2. Add the prepared seasonal fruit and lemon. Add the brandy and let the fruit sit for about 5 minutes. Pour the wine into the pitcher, add the 7 -UP and Coke, stir and taste.  Add simple syrup if it’s not sweet enough for your liking.

3. You can serve this sangria immediately, or let it marinate for 2 to 8 hours for fruitier flavor. Serve in wine glasses with a few ice cubes to keep it chilled. I prefer that the wine steep for at least 6 hours in the fruit before adding the soda to really extract all the flavors of the fruit.

4. Enjoy!  After the Sangria is gone, eat the fruit!