White wine sangria is the perfect festive drink for all of your summer get-togethers! This drink is great to make in advance so you don’t have to play bartender all night.
It’s officially pitcher cocktail season! That’s a thing right? Frosty pitchers of make-ahead cocktails really lend themselves well to the warm summer months. They are the perfect accompaniment to BBQs, trips to the beach, or laying by the pool. The queen of the pitcher cocktail, in my opinion at least, is sangria! Sangria is made with red or white wine, fresh fruit, fruit juice, and usually liquor of some type. These ingredients come together to make a lightly sweet, super refreshing beverage.
What type of wine should I use for white sangria?
After testing many options, our wine of choice for most white sangrias is an off-dry (aka slightly sweet) riesling. We find that the wine brings just enough sweetness to the sangria that you don’t need to add additional sweetener. However, if you like a less-sweet cocktail, or want to control the sugar content yourself, you can use a dry pinot grigio. If you tend toward the sweeter end of the spectrum, we say go for a moscato. This sangria would also be fantastic with prosecco!
What type of fruit is best for white sangria?
You can really use any seasonal fruit in a white sangria with good results, but here we wanted to do a play on red, white, and blue for the upcoming Memorial Day and 4th of July holidays. We chose strawberries, blueberries, and apples for this purpose. If you’re feeling particularly festive, you can cut the apples up using these star cookie cutters!
Citrus fruits, such as oranges, lemons, or limes would also be great in this sangria, as well as seasonal raspberries or blackberries.
How do you make white sangria?
Making white sangria is truly SO easy. The real key to a great sangria is to let it sit for a while. When the sangria sits for a while, it pulls the juices out of the fruit, which is what truly turns it into a delicious drink. To make white sangria, you just need to follow a few simple steps:
- First things first, you’ll cut up all of the fruit, and put it in a pitcher.
- Next, you’ll pour the wine over the fruit, along with the juice and brandy (or other preferred liquor).
- Now all you have to do is refrigerate the sangria before serving it. We prefer overnight for maximum flavor, but if you’ve only got a few hours to chill it that will work, too!
- Once you’re ready to serve, pour it over ice and top it with sparkling water and enjoy!
More Sangria Recipes:
Red, White, and Blue Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 bottle riesling
- 1 pint blueberries
- 1 cup strawberries quartered
- 2 apples sliced or cut into star shapes
- Juice of one lime
- Juice of one lemon
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 cup brandy or rum or vodka
- 1 cup sparkling water
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients other than sparkling water in a pitcher and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to overnight, to let the flavors meld. Once you are ready to serve, stir in the sparkling water and enjoy!
Nutrition
Wonderful recipe for the 4th of July- it was a big hit! Also, we ate the wine soaked fruit with flourless chocolate cake and ice cream for an UBER decadent dessert 🙂
Oh my gosh that dessert sounds INCREDIBLE! What an awesome idea.