Author Notes
My father made the best Sangria in the world. And that was because he used fruit from our farm, picked early in the morning, exactly ripe. He used oranges, lemons, peaches, plums, sometimes a cantaloupe if available and ripe. He used these fruits as they are the juicier fruits available – this is the success behind a good Sangria.
He used red wine and sparkling water, never ever 7Up or Sprite. All the flavour came from the fruit, not some soda can loaded with sugar and additives.
I am sure all of you know how to make red wine Sangria so I will skip the recipe.
This is a white Sangria, idea which I got from Gigi, a restaurant on the beach in Algarve, where they make an amazing refreshing Sangria with white wine or Sparkling wine. I have tweaked it here and there to my taste, but as I said previously, the success to this recipe is really to use fresh ripe fruit that is juicy and obviously a good wine.
No matter what we eat during summer vacation, whether inside or outside, this is always my favourite drink.
—Maria Teresa Jorge
Ingredients
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4
juicing oranges (the smaller type)
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2
medium lemons
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2
ripe white flesh peaches
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1
nectarine
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2
ripe plums, the juicier type
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1/2
cantaloupe
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6 tablespoons
muscovado sugar
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1
cinnamon stick
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12
mint leaves
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2 teaspoons
pink peppercorns crushed
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2
bottles good dry white wine (eg. Pinot Grigio) or Sparkling wine
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750 milliliters
soda water (half if using Sparkling wine
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50 milliliters
Gin – optional if you want more kick to the Sangria
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ice cubes
Directions
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Wash all the fruits and prepare them, putting them in a large bowl:
Cut the oranges and lemons in slices.
Remove stones from peaches and nectarine and cut in pieces, leaving the skin on..
Remove skin and seeds from melon and cut in pieces.
Cut the flesh from the plums.
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Add the muscovado sugar, the cinnamon, the pink peppercorns, the mint leaves and the white wine and leave to macerate ½ hour.
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Add the sparkling water, gin if using, ice cubes. Stir very well and transfer to serving jugs.
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Note: Please, please, please, don’ use a bad wine – you will be drinking it! White wine has little body, so a poor white wine is not good at all. Also, don’t use a sweet wine, it’s the fruit that should be the star of the show, not the sugar content of the Sangria - if using a sweet wine you’ll end up with a syrup rather than a summer drink. Think the difference between a freshly squeezed lemonade and a 7Up!
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NOTE 2 - VERY IMPORTANT - DO NOT USE WATERMELON - It is extremely indigestive combined with wine.
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