White Wine Sangria

CASE: For pre-dinner cocktails, I was thinking a French 75 or a French martini to keep the theme in a fun way. But then, I decided that it would be too strong. So although I was initially against serving sangria, as it is way, way too Spanish, I decided it would lend a nice, light touch to the heavy red wine of the coq au vin. So I recipe shopped (there are a LOT of sangria recipes out there), and created the recipe below. The dinner turned out fabulous, Susie loved her meal, and everyone had a great time.

SUMMERY WHITE WINE SANGRIA
1 cup of gin
1/2 cup Triple Sec
1/4 cup Chambord
1 sliced navel orange
1/2 cup red seedless grapes cut in half
1 red pluot, sliced thinly
1 sliced yellow peach
1 gala apple sliced and de-seeded
1 T powdered sugar
1 bottle Sauvignon Blanc (Do NOT use Chardonnay!)
1 cup Seltzer or soda water

Pick really ripe fruit. Marinate the fruit in the hard alcohol for about an hour at room temperature, and sprinkle the sugar to taste. Add the wine and fizzy water right before people get there and serve over ice. You can definitely play with the portions to make it taste right.

NOTE: This is closest to a recipe I found in Martha Stewart, but hers was vodka-based. I served it both ways at my party and promptly finished off the gin one before everyone at the party got to try it. I mean, it tastes fine with vodka, but gin gives it a gingery goodness and sweetness. (I know gin doesn’t have ginger, but I am telling you, the result tastes…gingery!) Martha’s recipe also included raspberries, and again, I don't. I think Chambord is much, much better, because it gives this sangria a nice peachy color. It also makes it look like the fruit has been marinating much longer than it has, so it’s a nice visual trick. Raspberries have too strong a taste, and would make the drink look more girl-y than summery. If this was a bridal shower, I would have gone with the berries, though. I mean, the truth is, you could really get away with using any fruit in this recipe. You just have to keep a bit of citrus, because the point of sangria is a citrus and wine. Oranges AND lemons are the classic additions; some recipes go so far as to suggest squeezing them into the recipe by the cup. I think the oranges AND lemon work in a red wine sangria, but in a white, it overwhelms the flavors of the sauvignon blanc, so I judiciously left out the lemons. This drink is incredibly beautiful, and was a total hit. I will be serving it again and again!

VERDICT: GUILTY! OF BEING DELICIOUS!