Secret Sangria Recipe

When my husband and I were planning our wedding, I decided on a Spanish theme. One of the signature beverages, of course, was Sangria. Sangria is a traditional Spanish drink that beats the summer heat with a refreshing mix of red wine (traditionally), juice and fruit. Since sangria is usually a regional, or family recipe, it can vary greatly. I remember growing up with my Spaniard cousins and watching them make the Sangria from scratch – red wine, OJ, apples, oranges, grapes and some lime – what I missed were the ratios. So my patient husband and I set out one day to recreate the perfect party Sangria with full intention to use at our wedding.

Things started great. I was mixing various options, and taking meticulous notes. However, as we tested, and tasted, and tested and tasted, we altered. A little more of this, and lot more of that… Before long we HAD IT – THE PERFECT SANGRIA! Or was it? Now I don’t know if this actually was perfect, we had been mixing and tasting for a good hour. The point is, my notes were not perfect. We had absolutely no idea how we got to perfection in the first place. I needed a better solution for quenching a large audience of wedding attendees, with as little effort as possible.

ENTER CARLO ROSSI.

Do you remember the jugs of Carlo Rossi that your aunts and great aunts used to always have on hand at family gatherings? One of those jugs, my friends, is labeled ‘Sangria’ – and this is my secret trick:

 

1. Grab a jug of Carlo Rossi Sangria
2. Throw in a frozen lime or OJ from the supermarket freezer section
3. Toss in some fruit (apples, grapes, oranges)
4. Stir in some ice

 

It’s as simple as that! Feel free to experiment on your own as well – my friend makes a similar version and completely skips the frozen juice part. It’s super easy, refreshing and completely deceiving! At the wedding people were asking for the recipe – I think that they truly believed that this was a family recipe, and it technically is, but that family name is Rossi, and it can be found in a beautiful, pre-mixed jug.

Salud!