Of Bottled wines & Cheap Sangria

Old Memories

Many years ago, before the world turned into a frenzy of social media and bad influencers, my then girlfriend and I went on holidays to Blanes, Spain. During lunch, we had an unpleasant moment with one of the hotel waiters. When he learned I was Latin-American rather than European, he started screaming xenophobic insults at me. I guess he was ignorant of history; otherwise, he would have been aware of all the riches the Spanish stole from the new continent during the conquest, right?

For dinner, however, we dined in the hotel's inner restaurant and thus avoided dealing again with such unprofessional (and unwarranted) behavior. The unfortunate incident of the day was somehow rectified when the evening waiter presented to our table a substantial decanter filled with “Sangria de cava” (Cava Sangria). The decanter was in the middle of the table, and through the clear color of the Cava, the drowned fruits floated around. It looked tasty, and the waiter commented that it was an aphrodisiac. That was the first time we had that type of sangria, and it was superb!

And that brings me to a simple recipe for a red wine sangria we prepared for dinner at home a few days ago. Yes! You can do it at home, not only is it much cheaper, but most likely it will be better than whatever they will serve you in any restaurant outside Spain. It is not a white sangria like the Cava Sangria, but it is almost just as good.

Our spiked Home-made Sangria

Sangria is not meant to be expensive, and like all alcoholic drinks, there is a lot of room for experimentation.  You see, a few years ago, we decided to explore the “Spanish” restaurant of an acquaintance, and we asked for two glasses of sangria next to our paellas. We were extremely disappointed! The bill wasn't cheap, and yet both the Paella and the Sangria had telltale signs of being prefabricated. The sangria was obviously not made in-house. So, why spend your money patronizing establishments that have little consideration for their clients?

We wanted sangria for the evening; we had the red wine, but we also had some prepackaged sangria left over from days before (oh no!). It was crying to be consumed. We don't like letting things go to waste. Don't worry! We certainly didn't want to cheat ourselves in the sanctity of our home! So, I took what was left of the prepackaged sangria and poured it over two large wine glasses with some ice in them. Then I added some freshly pressed orange juice, sufficient chunks of red apple, and sliced grapes. There wasn't time for a more elaborate sangria.

I spiked it further by adding a good measure of Tempranillo red wine and a shot of golden rum. Any rum would do, I used Ron Botran from Guatemala for a true fusion light dinner. Any red wine would do, I used this Special Selection Spanish Tempranillo instead of the Malbec variety in the first photo.

Stir it a little and let the sliced fruits absorb some wine. It is better if you prepare it in advance in a decanter, but I was in a hurry. You can use any rum or peach liquor (as I have done before), even a bit of whiskey! The wine in it has to be the main flavor, and preferably not a dry wine. That is why I loved this Tempranillo. But it would be even better if you skipped the prepackaged sangria; it tends to be too sweetened. Instead, use true wine and maybe a bit of spice, but as I said, feel free to experiment! I hope you get to try this delicious sangria and comment here when you do.