Central Coast Sangria
A dry red sangria built on a Central Coast wine, with citrus and not too much sugar. The pitcher that cuts the fat and smoke of red-oak tri tip.
A cookout drink has one job: cut through the plate. Tri tip comes off the red oak rich, fatty, and smoky, and a heavy pour does not stand up to that. A cold, citrus-forward red sangria does. Acid and chill against fat and smoke. That is the whole idea.
Build it on a Central Coast red. This is Santa Barbara County wine country, so a young Syrah or Grenache is both the right flavor and the right story. Keep it dry: the fruit and a little citrus do the sweetening, and too much sugar stops it cutting and starts coating.
Make it ahead and make a lot. Build it the night before, chill it hard, and pour it over ice while the tri tip rests. It carries a crowd without you tending a bar.
Ingredients
- 1 bottle Central Coast red wine (Syrah or Grenache)
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 2 tablespoons orange liqueur
- 1 orange, sliced
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 cup strawberries or stone fruit, sliced
- 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar, to taste
- 1 cup soda water, to top
- Ice, to serve
Instructions
- 1
Combine the wine, brandy, orange liqueur, sliced fruit, and sugar in a large pitcher.
Use a young, fruit-forward red, not an oaky one. Save the special bottle for the glass.
- 2
Chill at least 2 hours, ideally overnight, so the fruit macerates and the flavors marry.
Overnight is better. The fruit sweetens the wine naturally, which is why you go light on the sugar.
- 3
Top with soda water and serve over ice, spooning some fruit into each glass.
The soda lifts it and keeps it from feeling heavy at midday.