Indian Summer Raspberry Peach Sangria

What better way to celebrate than with some sangria? 

If you haven’t made homemade sangria, you are really missing out! Not only is it delicious, it is super easy to make. Sangria in its basic form is wine, fruit and juices.  The ideal way to prepare sangria is to allow the fruits you use to sit in the liquid overnight to soak up the alcohol and flavor. However, you can also make it a few hours before you are going to serve it if time is an issue.

The traditional red wine used in Spain for sangria is Rioja, although you can make sangria with white wine as well.  I use a Tempranillo wine, which is a Spanish red wine similar to Cabernet Sauvignon. Tempranillo is a red grape, almost black, used to make full-bodied red wines. The overall taste you are looking for in sangria is slightly sweet and you can easily adjust recipes to fit your taste.

Whenever making sangria, I like to use fresh seasonal fruits. Raspberries and peaches are still juicy and delicious this time of year which is why my Indian Summer Raspberry Peach Sangria is currently my go to sangria.

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle of red wine (I use Don Quixote Tempranillo)
• ½ cup peach schnapps
• ½ cup pomegranate juice
• ½ cup fresh lemon juice (use fresh lemons!)
• 2 peaches, sliced
• 1 orange, sliced
• 2 lemons, sliced
• ½ pint of raspberries (rinsed and put into freezer)
• 24 ounces of raspberry flavored soda water (or plain club soda)

Preparation:

1. Pour red wine, peach schnapps, pomegranate and lemon juice into large pitcher and stir.
2. Add sliced peaches, orange and lemon slices to pitcher.
3. Put into fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight to allow for maximum flavor.
4. Freeze raspberries to use as ice cubes at least 1 hour before serving.
5. To serve, put frozen raspberries, along with a few other ice cubes to fill half of a wine glass. Pour 6 ounces of sangria over ice.
6. Add peach, orange and lemon slices into glasses.
7. Top each glass with 3 ounces of raspberry flavored soda water (or plain club soda).
8. Stir, serve and enjoy!

Makes 8 servings.

Tips for making homemade sangria:

• Use fresh, seasonal fruit.
• Inexpensive wine is fine and the way to go!
• Sangria can be made with red or white wine.
• Let sangria sit in fridge for at least 3 hours.
• Use different types of carbonated soda water to fit your taste.
• Freeze all types of fruits for fun edibles!