What could be better on a hot summer day than a big, cold glass of booze-laden fruity wine punch?! Enter Sparkling Sangria, the bubbly life of the party! Big citrus flavour with a splash of strawberry and kiwi, it’s how we patio, because we are – fabulous!
Hundreds of years of summer consumption by the Spanish and Portuguese has only improved this recipe, which is basically: fruit, juice, liquor, a bottle of wine, and a light mix – which is the optional by-the-way.
The fruit is my second favourite part; it’s like boozy fruit salad with your drink. Doesn’t that sound refreshing?!
Please don’t use the good bubbles!
This is not a break-the-bank kind of recipe. It’s a casual, wear-your-favorite-shorts-and-smell-like-sun-screen kind of recipe, so expensive champagne is completely unnecessary. In fact, it’s a good way to ruin good bubbly. So please, don’t use a $50 bottle of champagne.
This Sparkling Sangria is the perfect application for an inexpensive Spanish Cuvée, or a light Prosecco. Really any sparkling wine will do. The part that packs the bigger punch, in this punch, is the booze you choose.
Time to Clean Out the Liquor Cabinet
Waste nothing! Sparkling Sangria is the ideal opportunity to check what’s laying around in the back of the liquor cabinet. All you need is half to three-quarters of a cup of the strong stuff.
The bottom of a bottle of Triple Sec, leftover from that margarita party in 2009? In it goes. The last of the light rum from winter’s eggnog indulgences? Use it up. That bandy that you use “for medicinal purposes” and sauces?! Yup. Why not. Tiny bottles of Grand Marnier that were tagged for blueberry tea? That works too.
Garnishing Sparkling Sangria – or any Sangria – is the fun part! Add a sprig of mint or basil, or both, to your fruity concoction for next-level presentation and taste. It tastes like… rainbows.
And you don’t have to stop at just one bottle! Once you have your fruit base, if you’re hosting, you can continue to top-up your sangria throughout the night. Add another bottle of wine, grab some juice, a splash of the hard stuff, and a dash of sugar if it’s running low.
Good news: If you find you have a little extra, store it in the refrigerator for tomorrow. Word to the wise though, that fruit will start to ferment after two days… which is nasty, and a waste of bubbles. Can’t have that. Waste. Nothing.
Cooking in her home kitchen just outside Ottawa, Canada; Cori Horton is a food photographer and recipe blogger. A Cordon Bleu-trained Chef, Cori spent five years as the owner of Nova Scotia's Dragonfly Inn and has been sharing all things delicious - right here - since 2010.
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