Sangria: Fruit punch with a kick
Sangria is a wine punch originating from Spain. Traditionally the punch, which gets its name from the Spanish word sangre, meaning blood, is made by infusing red wine with fruit and a variety of spirits. From its humble roots, sangria has grown to become a popular summer cocktail around the world.
The origins of sangria are all but lost to the mists of time, but it is based on a traditional red wine punch popular across Europe for hundreds of years.
Most wine-drinking European cultures have created a few ways to doctor wine with fruit, honey, sugar, spices and additional alcohol. Most of the time this served two purposes - to hide the taste of poor quality wine and to give it more of a kick. Today ingredients are added to enhance good wine rather than mask bad wine.
Every region and bar in Spain has its own sangria recipe. Classically, sangria is created with rioja and other quality Spanish reds, although the Penedes region near Barcelona uses sparkling white wine cava to create sangria blanco. In the south of Spain sangria is called zurracapote, or zurra for short, and is created with peaches or nectarines.
When making your own sangria, use a rioja from the Ribera del Duero wine region to get the authentic Spanish flavour. For the fruit, go with personal taste, but also consider the flavours that are already in the wine and try to complement them. Most sangrias use citrus fruits, particularly oranges and lemons, but berries also work well with red wines.
Whatever ingredients you choose, it is vital that you allow time for the fruit flavours to blend with the rest of the ingredients. Prepare your sangria ingredients by cutting the fruit in thin slices or small cubes, then mix with the alcohol and refridgerate overnight.
Classic sangria recipe - serves 4
2 tablespooons caster sugar
half orange, cubed or sliced
1 lemon, cubbed or sliced
handful of fresh berries of your choice
30ml brandy Spanish brandy, such as Domecq
30ml Cointreau
235ml soda
ice cubes to half fill jug
Pour wine into a large jug. Add sugar and mix well. Stir in fruit, brandy and Cointreau. Chill overnight until ready to serve. Just before serving, add the soda and ice cubes, stirring gently. When pouring into glasses, leave fruit and ice in the jug.
For sangria blanco, swap rioja for a good quality cava and use apples along with sour citrus fruits.
For sangria zurra, marinade Spanish white wine or cava with spirits and slices of ripe peaches and sweet nectarines. A stick of cinnamon can also be added for extra flavour.
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