White Wine & Berry Sangria

At this point, I think it’s fair to call it “red-ish month,” especially considering that we are pretty much 0 for 4 on the whole “red” cocktail thing. But whatever you call it, we are wrapping up the month with our own sparkly, tangy version of Sangria (which is… mostly red)!

Ready to pretend it’s summer with this refreshing wine-based drink? Click here to jump to the recipe.

Make a (single serving ) White Wine & Berry Sangria

So, I actually didn’t know that Sangria contained alcohol other than wine until we made this cocktail. (Anyone else? Just me?)

Traditionally, Sangria is made by soaking fruit in brandy and then adding wine, but we wouldn’t be us if we didn’t try things a little differently! We decided to make a single-serving Sangria with white wine and Aperol. So if you’re craving some Sangria you don’t need to dedicate an entire bottle of wine. 

Chris’ issue with traditional Sangria is that it never tastes quite as fruity as it looks, so we wanted to really kick up the fruit flavor. To create a stronger, fresh fruit flavor, we macerated the fruit (like we did last week with the Pomegranate Fizz) to create our syrup.

By adding soda water to the wine, Aperol, and syrup mixture, our final drink was a very light, refreshing Sangria. It has a bright, fresh berry profile combined with a hint of bitterness from the Aperol. (Note: in the video, we used 4 oz. of soda water and .5 oz of syrup, but we decided afterward that we wanted more syrup. Adjustments have already been made in the recipe below.)

Pro Tip: What Exactly Is Maceration?

Maceration is a technique to create a fruit syrup without adding any heat. Often fruit syrups are created by chopping up fruit, adding sugar and simmering over heat – but that tends to create a different flavor that is more “cooked” or “jammy” (as the wine folks would say.)  We don’t really want that cooked flavor, so we’re macerating instead.

How to make a Fresh Fruit Syrup:

1. Chop your fruit into 1/2 or 1 inch sized pieces.
2. Coat it in sugar
3. Let it sit for 4+ hours*
4. Then strain.

Tip: We learned from Chef Amy in our Mixology Podcast 172 that if you are going to boil your syrup, you should add a little elderflower syrup to preserve that floral flavor.

Try Some Variations

• Use sparkling wine instead of soda water. (Prosecco would be a good low-cost choice)
• Add frozen fruit to your glass instead of fresh to help keep the glass cold.
• Play with the amounts of syrup and sparkling element to create a more or less fruity Sangria.
• Make a big batch by scaling up the recipe for your next party!

I definitely prefer the more fruit-forward flavor, but I want to hear your favorite Sangria recipes and how this one worked for you! Leave us a comment or come on over to our Facebook group to join the conversation and share your favorites with us.