This red wine sangria recipe is perfect for your Christmas parties! Made with brandy, pomegranate juice, fresh fruits and spices, it's a bit like a cold mulled wine! This festive wine cocktail is perfect for entertaining a crowd, is easy to make, and can be made a day ahead of time with just a handful of ingredients.
It's wine time! I love love love a good sangria, and my white wine recipe is one of my favorite summer drinks. But now there's snow in the sky I'm after something a bit more cosy! This red wine sangria is the perfect Christmas drink, but go steady - it's an easy drinker and you'll feel it the next day if you over do it, trust me, I'm speaking from experience!
What are the flavors in this Christmas Red Wine Sangria?
The flavors in this drink come from a mixture of fresh fruits and spices - it has a mild citrus flavor to it with spices running through each sip, but it's still wonderfully refreshing. To make this recipe, you will need the following ingredients:
- Fresh fruits: Lemon, orange, clementine, apple, pomegranate
- Whole spices: Cinnamon, cloves, star anis
- Brown sugar
- Brandy
- Pomegranate juice
- Red wine
How to Make Red Wine Sangria
This delicious wine cocktail is so easy and straight forward to make, the hardest part is waiting to let all of the flavors meld.
First up you need to slice up the fruit, I like to slice it up in different shapes and sizes for a bit of visual interest. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate and add everything to a large jug along with the spices and sugar (photo 1).
Pour in the brandy (photo 2), followed by the pomegranate juice and wine (photos 3 & 4).
Give everything a good stir and then pop it in the fridge until you are ready to serve it.
Whats the best red wine to use in sangria?
You don't have to spend a fortune on expensive wine for sangria, as it takes on the flavors from the other ingredients, but you still want it to be flavorful and most important of all, drinkable! I like to use a full bodied, fruity red that isn't too high in acid. A shiraz, malbec, merlot or cabrnet savingnon are all great choices. Be sure to check out my Beginners Guide To Red Wine to help you find a great wine for your taste.
How long do you need to chill sangria?
Sangria is the perfect party drink as you can make it several hours before you want to serve it. Ideally you want to chill it for at least two hours and up to twenty four. The longer you leave it, the more those lovely spice flavors will come through.
How do you serve Christmas red wine sangria?
To make this sangria super festive and pretty, I rimmed the glasses in white sugar. Place a good amount of sugar in a bowl, rub a small piece of orange or lemon around the rim of each glass and dip it in the sugar for a cute snowy rim. You could also use a colored sugar like this gold one for a real bit of bling!
You can either pour the sangria over ice or as it is, whatever you prefer, and finish by spooning a few pieces of the soaked fruit into the drink.
Sangria is the perfect drink to serve a crowd
This recipe will easily make enough for about 10 to 12 large drinks, and more if you don't have thirsty friends! You will need a big 64 ounce / 2 litre jug as this recipe uses two standard bottles of wine. If you aren't serving as many people, the recipe is easily halved, and of course, you can always keep the leftovers in the fridge for the next evening!
An easy drinking sangria recipe
Don't think for a moment that this red wine sangria is a heavier drink compared to it's white counterpart, it's incredibly refreshing and goes down a treat! The citrus fruits give it fresh and zesty flavor whilst the whole spices and an amazing mulled aroma. It really is Christmas in a glass!
Top Tips To Make Christmas Red Wine Sangria
- Refrigerate the sangria for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours before serving. The longer you leave it the more pronounced the flavors will be.
- Don't add ice cubes directly to the jug of sangria, they'll melt and dilute the drink, if you like, you can add ice cubes to the glasses when serving.
- Use fresh and ripe fruit for the best flavors.
Be sure to check out these other easy cocktail recipes:
- Spiced Rum Cocktail with Apple Vodka
- Baileys Candy Cane Cocktail
- Mojito Elderflower Cocktail
- Caesar Drink; A Canadian Brunch Cocktail
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Christmas Red Wine Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- 1 clementine
- 1 orange
- 1 green apple
- 1 pomegranate
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 8 whole cloves
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 3 star anis
- 10 ounces brandy (280ml)
- 2 cups pomegranate juice (475ml)
- 2 bottles red wine (1.5 litres)(6.3 cups)
Instructions
- Chop and slice the fruit, remove the seeds from the pomegranate and add to a large jug.
- Add the sugar and spices to the jug.
- Pour in the brandy, pomegranate juice, red wine and stir well.
- Place in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight before serving.
Notes
- Refrigerate the sangria for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours before serving. The longer you leave it the more pronounced the flavors will be.
- Don't add ice cubes directly to the jug of sangria, they'll melt and dilute the drink, if you like, you can add ice cubes to the glasses when serving.
- Use fresh and ripe fruit for the best flavors.
- Use a full bodied, fruity red wine that isn't too high in acid
- You will need a big 64 ounce / 2 litre jug as this recipe uses two standard bottles of wine.
- Nutritional values are based on one of ten servings and are an estimate only
Ashish says
Made this for thanksgiving 2024. It was a gigantic hit. Made it exactly to directions and let it sit covered in the fridge for 24 hours. The only difference was my brandy was an apple flavored brandy and boy was it gone fast. Served during appetizers and before we sat for dinner it was gone. Thank you for a lovely and rather strong (in a good way) holiday sangria.
Slow The Cook Down says
Ah so glad you enjoyed it Ashish! It's one of my favorite drinks!
Jane Saunders says
So I know that this is a Christmas recipe and it's now summer, but I can never resist anything like this. Those spices always draw me in and I was intrigued how this cold version of mulled wine/ wintery sangria would turn out. Super lovely with the pomegranate juice adding some extra bites.