Sangria Day: Alika's easy sangria recipe

For many of this festive season's get-togethers I'm making sangria, traditionally made with red wine from Rioja (like Tempranillo or Grenache), common fruits, a spirit (like brandy), sugar, and orange juice.

Here is my recipe for a light and fruity version using local ingredients from South Africa:

Recipe: Alika's easy sangria

Ingredients

• One bottle of red wine. I prefer good quality for Sangria, yet under R110, so I’m going with Anura's Grenache Noir.
• 100ml brandy. In staying with good quality, yet affordable, I’m choosing the 5-year-old Van Ryn's Viceroy half-pint that I got from my local liquor store.
• One heaped tablespoon of fine brown sugar.
• Chopped apple and orange. Depending on the size of the fruit, use one or half of each with skins on. For the apple, I like to use Golden Delicious which is not too tart.
• Liqui Fruit Passion Power Juice to taste. It is up to you how much juice to add but I don’t like using more than 200ml, allowing the wine to remain the main feature. Personally, I find that orange juice can be overpowering, so I use Liqui Fruit's Passion Power instead – I do this with mimosas and Buck's fizz too.
• Ice to chill. Serve ice in a bucket for guests to add to their glass as desired.

Method

Start by mixing the brandy and sugar in a jug until the sugar is mostly dissolved. Add the chopped fruits, then the juice, and lastly the wine. All the wine may not fit the jug, so just add the rest of it after you start serving the sangria. Give it a good stir and serve with ice in wine glasses or tumblers.

Enjoy!