Sangria is a versatile drink originating from Spain. It's a mix of various alcoholic beverages that you can use as per your taste and preference. Sangria is often a blend of wine, any type of sweetener, flavored liqueur and fruit. Add soda, sparkling water or fruit juice to customize it to your tastes. You can vary the type of wine, but red wine is usually the base. Consider alternatives to red-wine sangrias based on other wine styles such as white, sparkling or rosé sangrias.

Sangrias usually have a sweet and fruity flavor. A dry fruity wine with good acidity and mild tannins serves as a good base for this popular summertime drink. As a general rule, choose a sangria with a wine variety that you love on its own. Add ingredients to a sangria fruit wine to adjust its sweetness. For example, if you love tart flavors, add in acidic juices such as lemonade. For sweeter notes, blend your sangria wine with peach- or strawberry-infused liqueurs.

Add any fruit of your choice to this refreshing cocktail. However, we recommend using fruits whose flavor notes are present in the wine that is the base of the sangria. For example, a drink containing unoaked chardonnay wine has crisp and acidic flavors with hints of green apple. Adding tart Granny Smith apples to a chardonnay-based sangria helps bring out its delicate fruit flavor.

Since most sangrias have a sweet and fruity flavor profile, you don't want to pair them with desserts or sweet sauces. Instead, the sweetness of this fruity drink balances out the spiciness of South Asian and Tex-Mex dishes.

Buy a bottle of sangria for your summer backyard picnic or find another specialty wine by shopping Driz. Click these handy links to search for Drizly in your city, and look for liquor stores on Drizly near you.