Summer Fruit Sangria Recipe

As a teenager reading Hemingway, I remember being dumbfounded by the quantity of wine and hard booze his characters drank. How in el diablo could these men—and refined women—down 3 cocktails before lunch, 5 or 6 bottles of rioja with the repast—and still manage to walk, talk and wander over to the bullfights for a little death in the afternoon?

Summer Fruit Sangria is the kind of drink Hemingway and his comrades would have drunk in a dusty village in the Spanish heartland. Perfumed with seasonal summer fruit and fresh ginger, sweetened lightly with mollassesy Demerara sugar and fortified with brandy, Papa would have quietly downed 3 or 4 carafes.

Don’t follow suit. Quaff this fruity punch in moderation—and with something substantial in your stomach.

You can make summer sangria—literally “blood”—with any seasonal fruit. Last week I had a surfeit of plums and strawberries. Into the carafe they went along with thinly sliced lemon and ginger. Other fruits that work with sangria:

• Peaches
• Nectarines
• Apricots
• Cherries
• Berries of any kind
• Oranges
• Limes

I lighten this thick, slightly sweet mixture with San Pellegrino Limonata. You could also use sparkling water.

I suppose you should use a Spanish wine for Summer Fruit Sangria. I didn’t. Poor planning. I used a bargain Italian Primitivo.

Mix this up around 3pm on a Friday and stick it in the fridge to chill. Call friends. Place bowls of olives, cheese and bread around the room. Eat. Drink. Live.

Summer Fruit Sangria
2 cups summer fruit—your choice, but at least one citrus fruit
2 tablespoons Demerara sugar or honey
4-5 slices peeled ginger
1/3 cup brandy
1 bottle of rioja or other dry red wine
1 can Limonata or 12 ounces of sparkling water

1. Peel and slice the ginger.
2. Slice fruit—no need to peel.
3. In a small bowl, mix fruit and ginger, “bruising” the fruit—mashing it lightly—to release and fully blend the fruit, citrus and ginger flavors.
4. Add the sugar and stir to incorporate.
5. Pour in the brandy. Stir the fruit, sugar and brandy to blend.



6. Pour fruit-brandy mixture into a carafe or pitcher.
7. Pour in bottle of wine and stir well.



8. Chill Summer Fruit Sangria for at least two hours. Just before serving, add Limonata or sparkling water. You may add the entire can to the carafe or pour the wine into serving glasses and top-off with Limonata or sparkling water, stirring gently to incorporate. Make sure you include chunks of liquor-soaked fruit in each glass.

Serves 6.