Peach And Apricot Sangria

Peach And Apricot Sangria

August in Portland tends to be the month when things heat up and all that fruit that has been slowly growing, taking its sweet time to ripen on the vine/branch/cane comes on all at once. I'm always lamenting in July " looks like this will be the year of the green tomato " and then we have fifty tomatoes ripen at once and we're eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is not a bad problem to have. I also love late summer for all the peaches, plums, basically any stone fruit. We start to see cobblers, crisps, buckles and pandowdy's at barbecues and picnics, filled with all the goodness we've been waiting for.

Along with baking with peaches, I love adding them to sangria. I especially love sangria made with white wine. The traditional combination of fruits in sangria is apples and oranges but I like to add peaches, plums, apricots and cherries in a summery white sangria. There are so many creative ways to craft your own signature drink. Some like to add simple syrup, brandy or schnapps, lemon lime soda, seltzer water, you can customize it however you like. I prefer the less is more approach and I try to keep the sweetness on the lesser end. If you have a wine shop or grocery store with a sommelier I suggest you go pick their brain if you're unsure of what type of wine to use. I like to look for a Spanish white, sometimes I can get lucky and fine an off dry one, this summer my go to is Marina Alta, it has just a hint of sweetness that works great combined with everything else. When you're getting ready to serve your sangria you can add ice and bubbly to the pitcher and imbibe away. I like to keep the sangria mixture separate, pour over ice in a glass and top with prosecco. It's a little less traditional but then again you get to customize your drink and the ice isn't diluting the sangria so much.

I hope your summer has been as lovely as mine and you're taking time to spend with friends and family. If you have an opportunity to treat them to this delightful sangria let me know how it turns out or even better yet your own personal concoction.

XO

Lisa

 

Ingredients  

1 bottle of Spanish white wine

1/2 cup Cointreau

Chopped peaches and apricots, I used 2 peaches and 3 apricots  

1 bottle of Prosecco or seltzer  

Preparation  

Combine wine, Cointreau, chopped fruit in a large pitcher and stir. Chill for a minimum of 5 hours, if possible chill overnight. When ready to serve add ice cubes to glasses, pour sangria over the ice and top with a bubbly of your choosing.