Spiced Winter Sangria

Warm spices and winter fruit make this Spiced Winter Sangria recipe a fun twist on your classic Spanish red sangria.

A Winter Sangria

Many cultures serve warm, spiced wine drinks during the winter months, like the Glogg in Sweden and Gluhwhein in Germany.

And, while we typically think of Spanish Red Sangria as a chilled and (possibly) bubbly summer drink, there’s no law saying you can’t serve this wine cocktail in the winter too.

In fact, nowadays sangria is the general term for a wine-based cocktail. So it almost invites a little creativity.

How To Choose Wine For Sangria

When it comes to choosing wine for sangria, you can really start with any red wine you like. Don’t make it too expensive of a bottle, you’re going to be doctoring it up anyway!

But, don’t make it a cheap, unpalatable bottle either.

You still have to drink it, after all.

We tend to prefer a lightly fruity wine as the base of our sangria.

Typically for sangria we would look for a young, un-aged wine.

Spanish wines like Tempranillo and Grenache are very good choices. Red Zinfandel and Shiraz are also good options. Or, look for a red blend that is on the medium sweet end with lots of fruit flavor.

Our Spiced Sangria Recipe

For our Spiced Winter Sangria recipe, we first create a simple syrup that is infused with warm winter spices, like cinnamon, cloves, and anise. This syrup gives a nice warm, spiced undertone to the cocktail.

To the wine, we add some fresh orange juice to brighten up the flavors and a bit of brandy to kick things up a notch.

For fruit, we like to make use of fall and winter fruits by using a mixture of oranges, pears, and apples.

How To Serve Sangria

Traditional sangria is served chilled, sometimes topped up with a bit of club soda to give it a bubbly freshness.

In the winter, we don’t find ourselves wanting chilled, bubbly beverages as much, so we like to serve this winter sangria at room temperature.

Grab a glass and don’t be afraid to enjoy sangria year-round!

Other winter wine beverages

This sangria is a wonderful way to bring the often summer drink into your winter festivities. 

If you’re a fan of warmer wine drinks in the winter, you will want to take a look at our Swedish Glogg recipe for a spiked red wine punch.

Our German mulled wine is also a wonderful and warming winter beverage with lots of warm spices and citrus flavors. 

Enjoy the flavors of the winter months!

 

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This is one of the recipes from the early days of Curious Cuisiniere. We’ve updated our pictures since we first made it, but we’ve left some originals here, in case you’ve found us in the past and are looking for that old, familiar image.