1. Start by Choosing Your Wine

Traditional sangria is made with red wine, but you can certainly use pink or white wine if you prefer either to red. You don’t need the most expensive wine on the shelf, but you want a bottle that you’d enjoy drinking on its own. If you already have a favorite, it will work just right. I like to use merlot for red sangria, white zinfandel for pink sangria and chardonnay for white sangria.

2. Pick out Some Fruit to Complement the Wine

The thing about sangria that is so fabulous is that it’s packed with fresh fruit, which adds lots of flavor and visual appeal to it. The types of fruit you use depends on the type of wine you selected. For red wines, you want berries, plums or oranges. Pink sangria works great with strawberries, kiwis and pears. White sangria works really well with peaches, apricots, apples and nectarines.

3. Soak the Fruit in Rum and Sugar before Mixing the Sangria

Here’s a secret little weapon that will make your sangria the talk of the town. Place the fruit in a bowl and sprinkle it with about ¼ cup sugar. I usually do about 2 cups of fruit for one bottle of wine. Next, cover the fruit with rum and toss gently to coat. Allow the mixture to sit for about 10 to 15 minutes. Don’t worry if the sugar doesn’t dissolve – it will finish once it’s mixed with the wine.

4. Mix up the Fruit and Wine

Transfer the fruit to a large pitcher and add the wine. You can multiply the recipe for a crowd by using more fruit and wine in proportion to the number of people you want to serve. Stir the fruit and wine to combine the flavors and finish dissolving the sugar.

5. Add Fruit Juice to Temper the Flavor of the Wine

Not only is this an easy way to stretch your wine to serve more people, but it also complements the fruit and makes your sangria more of a cocktail and less of a glass of wine. I use a 1:1 ratio of wine to juice. For red sangria, berry, grape or pomegranate juice works well. For pink sangria, use strawberry or watermelon juice. White sangria is perfect with peach or apple juice.

6. Allow the Sangria to Chill for Several Hours before Serving

Sangria is typically meant to be served cold, so be sure to refrigerate yours before you serve it. If your wine and juice are already cold, you can probably get away with pouring a glass right away. I like to make my sangria in the morning and let it chill all day.

7. Present It Just Right

To serve sangria, fill a wine glass about ½ full with ice, pour in the wine and the use a slotted spoon to get some of the fruit mixed in. You can also garnish it with more fruit or fresh mint leaves. Yum!

What’s your favorite kind of sangria? Did you get any helpful tips for making it? Do you have other advice to share?