This simple concoction is the perfect Christmas Sangria for holiday parties! This stunningly bright red wine sangria is loaded with sliced oranges and apples, whole fresh cranberries, cinnamon sticks and cloves, red wine and flavorful liqueurs. It’s simply a perfect festive drink for the Holiday season. Simply add the ingredients to a glass pitcher, refrigerate, and serve with club soda and ice!
The brandy and orange liqueur in this holiday sangria add an extra kick of boozy deliciousness while the dry red wine is balanced by the sweet simple syrup and fruit slices. Cinnamon sticks and cloves provide a touch of warm spice – you can toss in some star anise or leave out any spices that you don’t particularly love.
This red Christmas sangria simple recipe lives up to all sangria expectations and is even better the day after it’s been made and chilled! If you love sangria, be sure to also try an easy cocktail recipe: Strawberry Sangria, Summer Peach Sangria, and these Sangria jello shots!
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Why You’ll Love Christmas Sangria
- Making this vibrant and tasty sangria is incredibly easy – just add the ingredients to the pitcher, refrigerate, and serve with club soda and ice. This makes the perfect festive holiday cocktail or signature cocktail for your holiday gathering.
- This festive Christmas sangria is the perfect boozy drink that adds festive color and decoration to your Christmas day, Christmas dinner or to any holiday party.
- Easily adapt this holiday sangria by using your favorite red wine, adjusting the sweetness, and increasing or decreasing the alcohol level for a stronger or weaker drink.
- Use this easy holiday sangria recipe as your base and blend it up to make a frozen wine slushie!
🍷 Ingredients:
- Red wine – Use one standard bottle of wine. Choose your favorite red variety: Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Garnacha are great options.
- Fruit – I’ve used 1 orange (sliced), 2 cups of whole cranberries, and 1 apple (sliced). Pomegranate seeds can also be added to sangria.
- Spices – Cinnamon sticks and several whole cloves add a lovely warmth to this Christmas sangria.
- Grand Marnier
- Brandy – If you want to keep this sangria as authentic as possible, opt for Spanish brandy.
- Simple syrup – This can be adjusted for the level of sweetness desired. You can purchase simple syrup
- Club soda – Seltzer or sparkling water can be used instead of club soda, although it does have a plainer taste. Ginger ale or lemon-lime soda are other great options.
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Optional Garnish:
Dried orange slices, blood oranges, or other citrus also makes a nice garnish. Cinnamon sticks or star anise also look beautiful in the serving glass.
Substitutions and Variations
- While I’ve opted to use a dry red wine when making this Christmas sangria, for a sweet sangria, you can also use sweet red wines. Just remember that using a sweet red wine will increase the overall sugar content of the sangria so you may need to reduce the amount of simple syrup added. You’ll have to find that right balance for your perfect holiday cocktail.
- Add in more alcohol or reduce the amount for a weaker drink. You could also easily increase the quantity of club soda or add in some cranberry juice or a mix of cranberry/pomegranate juice to dilute the kick of alcohol as an alternative to adjusting the alcohol quantities.
- Softer fruit, like strawberries or raspberries, can be used in this sangria recipe but then I suggest that you don’t store the sangria overnight as the fruit can become mushy.
- Other add-ins could include a sprig of fresh rosemary or lime.
- Pomegranate fruit juice can be added to this sangria for extra depth of color and flavor, especially if you want to dilute the alcohol.
🔪 Instructions:
Step 1: Prepare the fresh fruit by washing and slicing oranges and apples. Rinse cranberries and gather spices.
Step 2: Add the sliced orange, sliced apple, cranberries, cinnamon sticks, and cloves to a glass pitcher.
Step 3: Pour the red wine into the pitcher, followed by Grand Marnier, brandy, and simple syrup.
Step 4: Stir the ingredients in the large pitcher with a wooden spoon and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (preferably 2 hours).
Use organic fruits and spices where possible to minimize pesticides soaking into your red Christmas sangria.
CHILL AND SERVE: Serve this Christmas cocktail in serving glasses with club soda and ice.
Recipe Tips for this Christmas Sangria recipe
- The fruits I’ve used in this sangria recipe hold up quite well for extended periods of refrigeration and mixing. This is true for citrus fruits and stone fruits. If you change the types of fruits used to softer fruits like berries then you may want to avoid storing the for longer than overnight as the fruit may become mushy. You can also remove the softer fruits for longer storage.
- Most sangria recipes will last for up to 5 days when stored in an airtight container or covered jug in the refrigerator although the longer it sits, the greater the chance of your sangria losing its freshness and turning slightly sour from the wine.
- If you do intend to store leftover sangria for a couple of days then I suggest removing any fruit that may look like it’s starting to get soft and mushy. Citrus rind can also add a bitterness to the sangria after a half day or so.
- Using a clear glass pitcher or clear plastic jug is a must for showcasing your red sangria with all of the colorful fruits and added garnish! A punch bowl would also be beautiful for serving.
Fun Fact
The history of the first Sangria is quite interesting and probably very different from what you’d expect. When the Romans conquered various regions and started their reign in Spain in 206 BC, they planted vineyards along their routes. The Liberian Peninsula was no exception. And since most drinking water during that time was considered unsafe for consumption, they would add alcohol to it as a means of killing off any bacteria.
Apart from cleansing water, the first sangrias are said to have also been created to water down the horrible table wine available during that time. The recipes were most likely a mix of water, table wine, spices, and herbs although absolute certainty about the exact sangria recipe emerging from that time is still somewhat unknown.
It’s been widely accepted by historians that sangria was first introduced to the Americas at the 1964 New York World’s Fair and has since evolved with numerous recipe variations.
Recipe FAQs
Serve your sangria over ice with pieces of fruit or additional cranberries, orange slices, and/or cinnamon sticks as extra garnish.
Sorry to break it to you, but sangrias are best after sitting in the refrigerator for a couple of hours, allowing the fruits and alcohol to blend and infuse. I’ve listed a minimum of 30 minutes in the refrigerator, but it should ideally sit for 2-4 hours or even overnight!
It’s well worth planning a bit ahead of time than rushing and cutting corners on the chill time – you’ll thank me later!
More Festive Holiday Drinks
If you tried this Christmas Sangria or any other recipe on my website, please please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Christmas Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 orange sliced
- 2 cups cranberries
- 1 apple sliced
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 750 ml red wine Pinot Noir, Garnacha, Zinfandel, etc.
- 3 Whole cloves optional
- ½ cup Grand Marnier
- ¼ cup brandy
- ½ cup simple syrup
- 8 oz. club soda
Instructions
- Add sliced fruit, cinnamon sticks, and cloves to a pitcher or punch bowl.
- Pour wine into the pitcher.
- Add Grand Marnier, brandy, and simple syrup and stir to combine.
- Cover and refrigerate sangria for at least 30 minutes, but ideally 2+ hours.
- Add club soda and ice just before serving.
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Notes
- The fruits I’ve used in this sangria recipe hold up quite well for extended periods of refrigeration and mixing. This is true for citrus fruits and stone fruits. If you change the types of fruits used to softer fruits like berries then you may want to avoid storing the for longer than overnight as the fruit may become mushy. You can also remove the softer fruits for longer storage.
- Most sangria recipes will last for up to 5 days when stored in a sealed or covered jug in the refrigerator although the longer it sits, the greater the chance of your sangria losing its freshness and turning slightly sour from the wine.
- If you do intend to store leftover sangria for a couple of days then I suggest removing any fruit that may look like it’s starting to get soft and mushy. Citrus rind can also add a bitterness to the sangria after a half day or so.
- Using a clear glass pitcher or clear plastic jug is a must for showcasing your red sangria with all of the colorful fruits and added garnish! A punch bowl would also be beautiful for serving.
Nutrition
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