Mulled Wine Christmas Sangria
This festively spiced, sparkling, mulled wine sangria is Christmas in a glass! With wintery flavors of citrus, blackberry, pomegranate, apple cider and cinnamon, it’s an inventive twist on a Spanish cocktail party favorite.
Servings: 5 people
Calories: 205kcal
Equipment
- cutting board and sharp knife
- pot with a lid - big enough for a bottle of wine and your fruits
- container - to cool the sangria in your refrigerator
- tea egg for cloves - or small amount of cheese cloth and baker’s string
Ingredients
- 1 bottle red wine - Rioja, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon or Pino Noir
- ¼ cup brandy
- 1 cup apple cider
- 2 green apples - 1 for mulled wine, 1 for fresh garnish
- 2 lemons - 1 for mulled wine, 1 for fresh garnish
- 2 limes - 1 for mulled wine, 1 for fresh garnish
- 1 orange
- 1 cup blackberries - ½ cup for mulled wine and the rest for fresh garnish
- 1 cup cranberries - ½ cup for mulled wine and ½ cup for fresh garnish
- ½ cup pomegranate seeds
- ¼ cup honey
- 3 cinnamon sticks
- 1 tsp. cloves
- star anise - optional for garnish
- thyme - optional for garnish
Instructions
- In a pot, pour 1 bottle of red wine, 1 cup apple cider and ¼ cup of honey. Add 3 cinnamon sticks and 1 tsp. of cloves in a tea egg (or wrapped in cheese cloth and tied with baker’s string). Place a lid on top and simmer on very low heat for 20 minutes. Never allow it to boil.
- While the wine simmers with the cider, spices and honey, slice 1 green apple, 1 orange, 1 lemon and 1 lime.
- When finished, pour mulled wine into a jug or container with sliced fruit, ½ cup of blackberries and ½ cup cranberries. Add ¼ cup of brandy, stir gently and refrigerate for 2-3 hours until cold.
- For garnish, thinly slice 1 lemon, 1 lime, and 1 green apple. Add ice to glasses and pour sangria, adding some of the drunken fruit, and leaving some room for fresh fruit. Add blackberries, pomegranate seeds, cranberries, and sliced fruit with optional star anise/herbal garnish.
Notes
Save some un-drunken fruit for garnish.
The fruit you add to the wine while it's cooling in the fridge will be stained by the wine, which is totally fine, but to make a much prettier, colorful garnish, set some fresh fruit aside and add it to the drunken-fruit in the glasses when ready to serve. If adding green apple to your garnish, make sure to add some lemon juice to a bowl and swish the cut apples around to prevent them from browning.
Make this sangria no more than 12 hours before the party.
This sangria will be perfect after 3 hours, but you can allow it to sit over night. You don’t want it cool in the refrigerator for more than 12 hours, however, or flavors of cinnamon may become too strong, and the fruit may become mushy.
Nutrition
Serving: 5cocktails | Calories: 205kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 9mg | Potassium: 343mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 32g | Vitamin A: 136IU | Vitamin C: 48mg | Calcium: 68mg | Iron: 1mg