How to Make Spanish Sangria

Sample Spain's favorite wine treat--sangria! At five-star Hotel Castillo del Bosque La Zoreda in Oviedo, Mixologist Jose Luis Bonga shows us how to make this authentic Spanish refreshment loaded with fresh fruit, simple syrup, brandy, Curacao liqueur and Grenache wine.

Divya Gugnani: Sangria is truly a crowd pleaser. I’m Divya Gugnani here at the 5-Star Hotel Castillo Del Bosque La Zoreda in Oviedo Asturias, Spain, and the birth place of Sangria. So let’s go Behind the Burner and meet the Mixiologist to make a truly authentic version. So I’m here with Mixologist Jose Luis Bango and he’s going to make authentic Spanish Sangria for us today, the best ever. So let’s get started. We have a pitcher here and what are we going to do next? Jose Luis Bango: (Foreign Language) Divya Gugnani: Yes, we’re going to put a little bit of ice in our pitcher with the nice and cold. And next what do we do? Jose Luis Bango: (Foreign Language) Divya Gugnani: Okay so we’re going to put our fruits. And the fruits here are peach, lemon, green apple and orange and we’re going to put that right in to our pitcher. And I’m dropping it too but I’m going to put that right back in there. There goes green apple and one orange, lots of fruits in there. Okay so it’s time for the alcohol, this is the good time. Jose Luis Bango: Brandy. Divya Gugnani: And this is brandy and now I’m going to put one shot? Jose Luis Bango: (Foreign Language) Divya Gugnani: Okay this is going to get us boozy. Brandy really keeps you up on your palate so it’s nice to have in the Sangria so I’m going to put one shot of brandy and I see that we have Curacao here too. Jose Luis Bango: Curacao. Divya Gugnani: Which is orange flavor and how much do I need to put? Jose Luis Bango: (Foreign Language) Divya Gugnani: Okay we’re going to put in just the same amount which is one shot. It’s going to give it that nice orange flavor and I’m going to do that and get it all in. Get it all over the fruits; the fruit gets nice and boozy. Okay so this is simple syrup and its half sugar and half water equal parts that we’ve boiled. And it’s really nice to do this because if you put sugar in the Sangria, you get that grainy texture and you don’t want that on your palate. You want it to be liquid so it makes this right in to the pitcher and when you drink it, it just tastes the sweetness and no graininess on your tongue. Jose Luis Bango: (Foreign Language) Divya Gugnani: This is lemon juice and we’re going to put this in and it’s about ¾ cup I think and now - Jose Luis Bango: (Foreign Language) Divya Gugnani: Okay lots of orange juice, this is looking like a couple of cups and here goes. There we go, that’s enough, we’re going to leave room for the wine the best part, right? Jose Luis Bango: (Foreign Language) Divya Gugnani: So the wine what we have in here is a Grenache, it’s Cinco Jose’s. And it’s got great Grenache flavor, this is the 2008. And look at it turned red. All the way, he’s giving me more time. He’s like, come on, mas, mas – keep going. Jose Luis Bango: (Foreign Language) Divya Gugnani: Yeah but how are we going to mix it up? How are we going to mix it up? Okay good you mix it. Mix it up for me a little bit so we can get that right in there. And here goes, we’ve got fruit overboard which mean s it going to be really good Sangria. If it’s not messy it’s not fun, so what we want to do is usually you want to let this sit for a little while and you want to enjoy this with friends which is why we made a big picture of it. You want those fruit flavors and the alcohol flavors and the wine and the juices to kind of get together and become friends with each other. And then after it sits for a little while, we are ready to taste. Salud! Jose Luis Bango: Salud. Divya Gugnani: Jose, what do you think? Jose Luis Bango: (Foreign Language) Divya Gugnani: Okay so he loves it, he thinks it’s excellent and I think it’s phenomenal. This Sangria is simple and quick and easy to make at home. Its authentic Spanish and it was made from original ingredients down to the Grenache wine. This was truly five-star, thank you Jose! Stay tune to Behind the Burner where we give you the tips, tricks and techniques that are lighting the culinary world on fire.