There’s a pile of fruit sitting in your fridge. It’s not being eaten and probably won’t be either. Every time the door is opened you’re reminded of this fact. It’s the song that doesn’t end…
so you close the door.
My friends, take heart. There is something (a lot of things actually) to be made with all the fruit that unfortunately gets left behind (or really just shoved into the back of the fruit drawer):
Sangria.
Ohhh, sounds so fancy…and complicated, you may think. It’s not though.
Sangria is rustic and easy.
For three years I’ve been playing with different combinations of fruits, wines, liqueurs and other tidbits. It’s been educational and enjoyable. I’ve come to find that summer does lend itself to more fruit combinations because of all the seasonal abundance, but fall and winter also yield delicious fruit that’s perfect for sangria.
There’s a basic equation for creating sangria:
wine+fruit+liqueur+24 hours
Other elements do enhance the drink. Those vary. Herbs, simple syrups, fresh juice are all great additions and make the sangria even more personalized.
Recently, I’ve had a vision for a fall sangria: a drink that reflected the flavors of fall but could be sipped on while the high temperatures were lingering (because this is Texas and cooler weather is sometimes slow to appear).
While working on this fall sangria concept it was easy to determine what fruit from Market Street I would be using: organic apples, oranges and grapes. I also wanted a subtle depth of flavor, so one vanilla bean was needed.
What I couldn’t decide was what wine to use… pinot noir or a red zinfindel?
While going through Market Street’s lovely and varied selection of wine, I had 99.9% made up my mind on using a pinot noir. However, there happened to be a wine sampling (a highlight to most weekend shopping experiences at Market Street), which I never pass up. I sipped on a delicious red zinfindel and I immediately knew this was to be the wine to marinate the sweet and earthy fall produce.
Zinfindel with it’s bold, full bodied berry flavors is perfect for a fall sipper.
About 24 hours later I was topping my first glass of sangria topped with club soda and toasting the coming months of seasonal change.
Fall Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 orange, halved and then sliced
- 1 apple, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup grapes, halved
- 1 vanilla bean, sliced in half
- 1/4 cup Grand Marnier
- 1/4 cup whiskey
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1 bottle red zinfindel
- club soda, chilled (optional)
Instructions
- Place the fruit and vanilla bean in the bottom of a pitcher. Top with the liquids. Stir well. Place in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
- Pour over ice and top with chilled club soda.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Market Street. All opinions are my own and I appreciate your support of the brands and companies I love.