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Sunday, August 28, 2011

Summer Sangria


Enjoy a glass of this Summer Sangria at the end of a hot summer day.  It’s so refreshing and full of summer fruit. 

Summer Sangria
Fresh, sweet and delicious.

Equipment: Large Pitcher or Large Measuring Cup (8 cup), Small Saucepan, Fine Mesh Strainer, Juicer (optional) or Blender


  • 1 bottle organic white wine, chilled
  • 1 ½ cups fresh organic watermelon juice*
  • 1 cup sparkling water, filtered water or mineral water
  • ½ cup lemon verbena simple syrup, recipe follows
  • 1 organic lemon, thinly sliced
  • 1 organic peach, peeled, thinly sliced
  • 1 organic nectarine, thinly sliced
  • 1 cup organic green grapes
  • 15 lemon verbena leaves
  • Crushed ice

1.     In a large pitcher or large measuring cup, combine organic white wine, watermelon juice, sparkling water and lemon verbena simple syrup. 
2.    Add sliced lemons, sliced peaches, sliced nectarines, grapes and lemon verbena leaves.  Gently stir to combine.


3.    Fill glasses with crushed ice and pour the sangria over the top.  Serve immediately. 


Yield:  Makes about 9 cups. 

Lemon Verbena Simple Syrup
  • 1 cup honey or unrefined sweetener
  • 1 cup filtered water
  • 2 tablespoons lemon verbena leaves

1.     In a small saucepan, combine honey, water and lemon verbena.  Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes. 


2.    Remove pan from heat.  Cool for about 20 minutes.
3.     Strain through fine mesh strainer. 


Yield: Makes about ½ cup Simple Syrup. 

Note: Use whatever fruit is in season.  Berries, plums and cherries would be lovely in this as well.  *If you don’t have a juicer to make the fresh watermelon juice, a blender will work just as well (it breaks down easily because of the high water content).  You can also remove the Sparkling Water and substitute with more fresh watermelon juice.  
Non-Alcoholic Version: Remove the White Wine and substitute with Sparkling Water. 

Tip: This is fabulous the next day too.  Make a batch up the day before if you'd like, the flavors really come together, it's even sweeter the next day.  

Please drink responsibly and do NOT drink and drive.  


This post is part of Mangia Mondays @ Delightfully Dowling, Melt in Your Mouth Monday @ Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms, Recipe Sharing Monday @ Jam Hands, Made By You Monday @ Skip To My Lou, Tuesdays At The Table @ All the Small Stuff, Tasty Tuesday @ Nap Time Creations, Good & Tasty Tuesday @ Stay At Home Babe, Turning the Table Thursday @ Around My Family Table, and Seasonal Sunday @ Real Sustenance.

8 comments:

  1. Thanks Terry, it's SOOO good and refreshing too :) And it's fabulous the next day too. Thanks for the kind comment.

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  2. Sounds tasty! I’ve never had sangria using watermelon, so this looks like a fun way to change things up a bit. (BTW, did you know a lot of wines are actually organic, even if they’re not labeled as such? Many wineries will add ‘organic’ to their label just to charge more for so-so wine. With a little bit of research, you can find amazing wines that you might not have tried if you’re just looking for labels that include the term ‘organic’)

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  3. @ Leslie, the watermelon is a nice change from common or authentic sangria, it adds a different flavor. Thanks for sharing :) Sure, the "organic" label doesn't mean a whole lot these days, but when I'm talking about organic I mean using organic practices. Using sulphur on wine grapes (or grapes in general) is listed as an okay practice under the label, many things slide under the "organic" label. The same goes for all produce, meat and dairy, know your source, know what they use. This is why I'm a huge advocate for farmers markets so you can talk to the farmers directly. So yes, it's always important to know where your food is coming from. For the sake of my blog though, I'm trying to reach out to people who are new to eating "real" food or who haven't thought about eating "organic" foods before. So, for me, it's important to say "organic", especially if most people are buying products from main-stream supermarkets, these stores are not necessarily going to have a wide variety of quality wines that follow organic practices.

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  4. This looks so good, I never had it with watermelon, just the 'normal' one. Unfortunately we don't have melons here, so I have to wait until I get back to Europe to give it a try.

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  5. @ Mommy's Paradise, thanks! That's too bad that you don't have melons, but I'm sure it would work fine with any other seasonal fresh juice. Hope you get to try it. :)

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  6. sounds like a refreshing summer drink come see what I shared at http://shopannies.blogspot.com

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