This white wine Christmas sangria is made with white wine, ginger ale, and bubbly apple cider stirred together with crisp and tart Granny Smith apple, orange, and cranberries. One of the best holiday sangria perfect for Christmas parties. It has the right balance of crisp, fruity, and slight touch of sweetness.
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Holiday Sangria
Get your pitcher out, it’s sangria time.
Gather around with family and friends this holiday season with a big pitcher of holiday sangria. This white wine sangria is a lighter version of traditional red sangria. If you are looking for a holiday cocktail that you can serve for a large crowd, you’ll love this fun and festive-looking Christmas sangria.
Festive drinks are always an exciting part of holidays. Sangria with Christmas colors of green, red, and white is a real crowd-pleaser! Does that glass of sangria look Christmas-y?!
Not only it is easy to make large quantities to entertain a big crowd, but you can also make a non-alcoholic version to keep the kids entertained as well.
Looking for last minute cocktail that you can proudly add as a dinner table centerpiece, this is my go-to recipe. With delicate slices of tart green apples, orange slices, ruby red cranberries with fresh rosemary sticks, cinnamon sticks, and star anise for garnish, gorgeous glass of festive sangria.
Ingredients needed
Here’s what you’ll need-
- 1 750ml bottle white wine, Chardonnay or Pinot Grigio
- 6 ounces ginger ale (about ¾ cup)
- 6 ounces apple cider drink
- 2-3 tablespoons sugar (optional, I skipped)
- 1 Granny Smith apple, cut into thin slices
- 1 orange, cut into sliced half moons
- ¼ cup cranberries
Garnish-
- Rosemary sprigs
- Cinnamon sticks
- Star anise
Optional- for snowy rim on glass
- Light corn syrup
- Dried coconut flakes
White wine – be sure to use dry white wine for sangria. Choose your favorite among Chardonnay, Pinot Grigios, Sauvignon Blancs, or rieslings. Something that isn’t too sweet.
Apple cider – use sparkling apple cider, a non-alcoholic version. I used regular apple cider. You may also use apple juice or green grape juice instead.
Ginger ale – you may also use sprite instead of ginger ale.
Sugar – I skipped. You may use sugar, honey, or maple syrup. Taste in the end and adjust by adding the sweetener of your choice as needed.
Fruits – make use of the best seasonal fruits like green apples, oranges, and cranberries. You may also use winter pear, cherry, and pomegranate seeds.
Garnish – a sprig of fresh rosemary, a cinnamon stick, and star anise for holiday festive touch.
How to make white wine Christmas sangria
Start my slicing fruits. I used green apple, orange and cranberries. Use sharp chef’s knife or a mandolin slicer to slice fruits. Alternatively you can chop fruits into bite size pieces instead of thin slices.
Pour in white wine, apple cider (I used regular cider drink, please use sparkling cider if you like a bubbly cocktail), and ginger ale into a pitcher.
Add all fruits to the pitcher and stir with wooden stirrer.
TIP: taste sangria and as per taste you can add a few tablespoons sugar to the sangria, if you like a little hint of sweetness. I skipped sugar as my sangria tasted just perfect for me, I didn’t need the sweetness.
Refrigerate the pitcher for atleast 4 hours before serving.
Before serving, spruce up the glass with coconut flakes to give it a snowy look. Dip the rim of the glass in light corn syrup, shake off excess syrup, then dip in coconut flakes. Don’t skip shaking off excess corn syrup, you’ll need just enough of it to help coconut flakes stick to the rim of the glass. Too much syrup will result in coconut flakes sliding off the rim, a total mess. This step is optional, you can skip it if you don’t want a snow look on the rim of the glass.
Arrange fruit slices in individual glasses before pouring chilled sangria to it.
Don’t forget the garnish. Garnish individual glasses with rosemary sprig, cinnamon stick and star anise.
Tips
- Don’t skip chilling time. Sangria tastes best when chilled. By chilling you allow enough time for the fruits to infuse into the drink giving it flavor.
- Taste and adjust as per your liking. If you like sweet, you can either add more sparkling cider or stir in 1-2 tablespoons of sugar or honey, or maple syrup as well. Most sparkling cider is sweet, so I usually don’t add any sweetener to my drink.
- Don’t skip garnish, a sprig of fresh rosemary, a cinnamon stick, and star anise for a holiday festive touch.
Best white wine to make sangria
You want to use dry white wine to make the best sangria. Something that isn’t too sweet as you will be loading up the sangria with fresh fruits. Choose your favorite among Chardonnay, Pinot Grigios, Sauvignon blancs or Rieslings.
Make white wine Christmas sangria ahead
You can easily make this holiday sangria in advance and store it in the refrigerator. This sangria will last up to 2 days in the refrigerator. If storing for longer than 6 hours, store sangria in airtight container and keep an eye on the fruits, so they don’t go bad and spoil the sangria.
Use regular apple cider in place of sparkling cider
If you don’t have sparkling cider you may use a regular apple cider drinks or even apple juice. It’s a great substitute. Sparkling cider makes the drink bubbly and fun.
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📋White Wine Christmas Sangria (Holiday Sangria)
Ingredients
- 1 750 ml white wine Chardonnay or Pinot Grigios
- 6 ounces ginger ale about ¾ cup
- 6 ounces apple cider drink
- 2-3 tablespoons sugar optional, I skipped
- 1 Granny Smith apple cut into thin slices
- 1 orange cut into sliced half moons
- ¼ cup cranberries
Garnish-
- Rosemary sprigs
- Cinnamon sticks
- Star anise
Optional- for the snowy rim on the glass
- Light corn syrup
- Dried coconut flakes
Instructions
- Start by slicing fruits. I used green apples, oranges, and cranberries. Use a sharp chef’s knife or a mandolin slicer to slice fruits. Alternatively, you can chop fruits into bite-size pieces instead of thin slices.
- Pour in white wine, apple cider (I used regular cider drink, please use sparkling cider if you like a bubbly cocktail), and ginger ale into a pitcher.
- Add all fruits to the pitcher and stir with a wooden stirrer.
- TIP: taste sangria and as per taste you can add a few tablespoons of sugar to the sangria if you like a little hint of sweetness. I skipped sugar as my sangria tasted just perfect for me, I didn’t need the sweetness.
- Refrigerate the pitcher for at least 4 hours before serving.
- Before serving, spruce up the glass with coconut flakes to give it a snowy look. Dip the rim of the glass in light corn syrup, shake off excess syrup, then dip in coconut flakes. Don’t skip shaking off excess corn syrup, you’ll need just enough of it to help coconut flakes stick to the rim of the glass. Too much syrup will result in coconut flakes sliding off the rim, a total mess. This step is optional, you can skip it if you don’t want a snow-y look on the rim of the glass.
- You can arrange fruit slices in individual glasses before pouring chilled sangria into them.
- Don’t forget the garnish. Garnish individual glasses with rosemary sprig, cinnamon stick, and star anise.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Recipe Notes
- Don’t skip chilling time. Sangria tastes best when chilled. By chilling you allow enough time for the fruits to infuse into the drink giving it flavor.
- Taste and adjust as per your liking. If you like sweet, you can either add more sparkling cider or stir in 1-2 tablespoons of sugar or honey, or maple syrup as well. Most sparkling cider is sweet, so I usually don’t add any sweetener to my drink.
- Don’t skip garnish, a sprig of fresh rosemary, a cinnamon stick, and star anise for a holiday festive touch.
Created by Jyothi Rajesh
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Jyothi Rajesh is the founder of the food blog, Curry Trail. She lives in Bangalore, India and is the mom of two beautiful kids. Her passion is creating and sharing delicious and easy recipes for the home cook. She’s been blogging since 2007 and many of her recipes have appeared in both online and print publications over the years. Learn more about Jyothi Rajesh.
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