Recipe: Sweet & Fruity White Wine Sangria

Those of you who know me well know that I love my wine. However, I am definitely not a wine snob. I probably could be if I had a larger income, but I still don’t see myself looking down upon others who can’t afford $78 bottles of wine. I’m not completely well-versed in all the ways of viticulture (yet), but I know what I like and I know the basics.

That being said, I’m definitely not above wines like Trader Joe’s good ol’ Two Buck Chuck (Charles Shaw), or other “value” wines. Boxed wine I will definitely pass up, but I’m realistic and know what I can and can’t afford. Sutter Home, Charles Shaw, and a few others have suited me just fine over the years, and will probably continue to do so until I can finally afford that incredible Zinfandel from Ledson Vineyards. Honestly, if I knew more about how to review a wine, I would give some recommendations on some rather delicious wines for under $7. If you’re interested in these, shoot me an email and I’ll tell you about some of my favorites.

Anyway, aside from loving my wine on its own, I’m also a HUGE fan of sangria. I’m not sure which inventive Spaniard came up with this wine-based “punch”, but I will always and forever be grateful to him or her for it. Though it’s traditionally made with red wine, I have been playing with white wine versions for awhile now, and this weekend’s beautiful warm weather inspired me to enjoy my favorite concoction outside with some cheese and a good book (Poor Girls may be poor but should always know how enjoy themselves no matter what).

Someday I’ll post a more traditional recipe, and I’m definitely looking to duplicate the amazing – albeit heavily spiked – version that they offer at Iberia Restaurant, but with a spring storm scheduled to ruin the rest of this week, I thought it’d be nice to post a reminder of the warm weather that will stick around at some point in the future.

I definitely cheat with this one and use frozen fruit and well-chilled wine to make sure I can enjoy my sangria as soon as possible. Naturally, sangria tastes better after a day or two, but this is still very good right away.

Since for me it’s more about the combination of flavors as opposed to focusing on the wine itself, I have absolutely no problem using Two Buck Chuck for this, making this completely affordable. Honestly, I would feel terrible if I used a $40 bottle of wine for sangria, but that’s just me. Another TJ’s product I make use of for this recipe is the Mangolicious fruit blend (mangos, raspberries & blueberries) because of its wonderful combination of fruits. You can definitely use fresh fruit, but you’ll need to ice your sangria very well to enjoy its flavors to their fullest. I like the idea of mangos and berries together, and you can easily find these in most frozen food aisles of supermarkets. I add a little pineapple, some orange slices, a bit of ginger ale, and I end up with a delicious, lightly fizzy serving of fruit with my wine. Talk about multitasking.

Sweet & Fruity White Wine Sangria (serves 4-6; Total cost per serving: $2)