mulberryshoots

We usually think of sangria as a fruit wine punch that you drink in the sun and warmth of summer parties. We’re having a light lunch on Christmas Eve day – and I was reflecting on what would be good to drink with a meal of proscuitto with honeydew melon, duck rillettes that I’ve been saving since Thanksgiving and French onion soup.

So I searched online for “Christmas Sangria” not knowing what might turn up and this lovely recipe surfaced. It’s made with green Granny Smith and Honeycrisp apples, fresh cranberries (green and red fresh fruit, right?); white wine, white grape juice, club soda and sugar. The recipe recommended a Pinot Grigio for the wine. A comment below it suggested a drier wine like a Sauvignon Blanc coupled with a little Grand Marnier. That sounded interesting to me – more complex in the layers of flavor.

I rummaged around and found a beautiful antique glass pitcher in the cupboard and will fill it with this Christmas Sangria for our lunch on Thursday. Since we don’t want to nod off and nap all afternoon after lunch, I’ll make just a pitcher full and see where that takes us. The recipe calls for letting the fresh fruit and liquids sit in the fridge with a large sprig of fresh rosemary for at least an hour. It also suggests dipping moistened rosemary sprigs with granulated sugar to look like pine boughs covered with snow as garnish for each tumbler full of sangria.

Truly charming, don’t you think? Maybe you’d like to try it too?