How To Make Red Wine Sangria

We here at The Kitchn are firm believers in the power of sangria. Pull a pitcher from the fridge as guests arrive and no one needs much encouragement to start pouring glasses. It feels fancy and instantly festive, but sangria is also one of the easiest big-batch cocktails you can make. As the party host, it’s a no-brainer.

We’ve shared a lot of fun recipes for sangria over the years, from a sparkling peach sangria to a strawberry & limoncello rosé sangria, but today we’re all about keeping it classic. Here’s how to make the perfect red wine sangria for your next summer gathering.

• Sparkling White Peach Sangria
• Sparkling Watermelon Sangria
• Sparkling Apple Cider Sangria
• Strawberry & Limoncello Rosé Sangria
• Peach Lambic & Rye Sangria
• Non-Alcoholic Sangria

The primary qualification for the wine going into your sangria? That it’s cheap! Any red wine that you enjoy drinking is a good candidate, and it shouldn’t be expensive. Here we use an inexpensive Rioja from Spain, but you could also use Malbec or Merlot for a sweeter result.

Most sangria recipes call for the wine to rest overnight, or at the very least, for a few hours in the refrigerator. This lets the fruit infuse the wine, letting its juices get in the mix and sweeten up the drink.

In our opinion, the sweetness in sangria should come from the fruit itself, and perhaps the wine, but not soda like 7-Up. (If you like your sangria to be sweeter, try substituting tonic water for the soda water.)

You won’t get this lovely, fruity sweetness unless the sangria has a period to rest in the fridge. If you taste the sangria just after mixing it, you’ll probably think it tastes harsh or unbalanced. After a night in the fridge, it will taste mellow and juicy. Sangria gets better and better as it sits.