Cheap red wines, fruits, and a spritzer makes really good red wine sangrias. This easy red wine sangria can be thrown together in minutes and is perfect for the weekends, get togethers, and weekend brunches!
Sometimes cheap wines are cheap for a reason...so that you can make fun drinks like red wine sangria without breaking your piggy bank or want to pull out your hair!
Not only is red wine sangria cheap and easy to make, you can customize it almost entirely to your preference. Plus, it makes a hella good alcoholic beverage for the summer without all the high maintenance. Mhmm, yes. Perfect for a movie night or a weekend brunch!
If you are looking for a non-alcoholic beverage for the summer, try our grapefruit spritzer! It's one of my favorites!
Let's dive into some tips and FAQs for making red wine sangrias!
What is sangria?
Sangria is a Spanish alcoholic beverage, usually made with red wine, fruits, spices, and a spirit, usually brandy. So in short, an alcoholic fruit punch!
What kind of red wines can I use for sangria?
Now, let this bowl of yum sit for several hours or overnight!
In Spain, the most popular grape varietals are between Grenache/ Garnacha and Tempranillo. Those two are definitely the most authentic and traditional red wines you can use for making sangria. However, those two varietals are less common in America and are usually more pricey than what most of us would like. I mean, I would prefer to not spend $30 on a bottle of good wine and throw chopped fruits in it. But hey, if you want to experiment with a bottle, there's nothing wrong with that!
But if you're like me and don't want to spend a lot of money on wine that will be loaded with fruits, buy yourself a cheap bottle of wine. I recommend fruity wines like pinot noir, shiraz/ syrah, merlot, or a red wine blend, you can use almost any red wines you can get your hands on.
What kind of fruits can I use sangrias?
Slice or chop your fruits.
You can use almost any fruits you'd like! However, I do recommended using either fruits that are alike or fruits that complement each other. Also, you want fruits that are strong enough for the wine that you'll be using. For example, I could use use different varieties of apples with citrus and maybe even pineapples with almost any red wines. I could use melons with a lighter red wine, almost preferably a rosé.
With our sangria, we used Yellow Tail's shiraz and combined it with apples, oranges, pineapples, and strawberries.
What other ingredients can I add to my sangria?
Add sparkling water, sparkling wine, or soda to your preference.
Besides fruits, you can also add a splash or two of brandy for stronger alcohol flavor. You can also add sparkling waters, club sodas, and sparkling wines for some frizz. Some people like to sweeten their sangria..me! You can either sweeten your sangria with simple syrup, maple syrup, or be like me and just add ginger ale for both frizz and sweetness!
To make a basic simple syrup:
Combine 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of water and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let it cool before storing or using.
Love,
Mei ❤️
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Red Wine Sangria
Ingredients
- 1.5 Liters red wine (temperanillo, grenache, pinot noir, shiraz, or red wine blend)
- 1 apple, sliced (granny smith or fuji)
- ½ pineapple, peeled and sliced (preferably ripe)
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1½ cup sliced strawberries
Optional:
- Ginger ale, sparkling water, or sparkling wine (any clear soda will do as well)
- Simple syrup
- Ice
- Mint
Instructions
- Combine sliced fruits with red wine in a bowl or pitcher. Cover and let the wine infuse with the fruits for at least 5 hours or for best result, overnight, in the fridge.
- Serve the sangria with the infused fruits. Add ice, sparkling water, soda, and/or simple syrup to taste, or drink as is.
Notes
- Letting the sangria sit and infuse with the fruits overnight is highly recommended so that the sangria actually tastes fruity.
- To help infuse the fruit flavors faster, you can chop the fruits into smaller pieces or muddle the fruits.
- Feel free to add sparkling water, club soda, clear sodas like ginger ale, or even sparkling wine for some fizz. If you wish for the sangria to be sweeter, add some simple syrup.
- Simple syrup: Bring 1 to 1 ratio of water and sugar to a boil. Let it cool, and it will be ready to be used.
- You can also add a splash of brandy to the sangria if you want a stronger alcohol flavor.
Kathi says
I'm new to red wine and I'm trying to ease myself to dryer red wines (heart issues), so I thought about running red wines dish in a way that I can acquire a toaster to it. This sounds absolutely delicious and I'm going to make it today. I'm just wondering if peaches or pears ever go well in this type of recipe. Also I set a lot of recipes always have apples. If you can't have apples is there anything else you can use?
Mei says
Hi Kathi!
Pears would work as a great substitute for the apples, but I do recommend using crisp pears like those you can find at Asian markets. As for peaches, they are a much better pair with white wines. =) But if you don't have any apples, you can always omit it. The beauty of sangria is that you can almost customize it any way you'd like. The apples are usually just an additional "sweetener" to the sangria that also provides some fresh, crispness. Feel free to use just oranges and pineapple if you prefer.
Cheers!
Mei ❤️