It’s Cocktail Week DAY TWO which means this Holiday Sangria. Basically, we’re taking the premise of sangria, wine + fruit, and introducing it to all of the dependable autumnal and winter flavors. It’s good, guys, DEEPLY GOOD.

This is the reliable cocktail option for your holiday party planning. I often get ambitious at parties thinking that I’m going to cook all of the foods AND make fresh cocktails for all of my guests. It never works out and I end up trying to explain to someone how to mix the overly complicated cocktail that I thought up.

NO MORE. We’re doing straightforward holiday sangrias at our parties this year and I’m certain that everyone will LOVE IT!

What is in our Holiday Sangria?

Truly, you can use whatever fruit you would like. I tried truly hard to find some blood oranges but when I photographed this, they weren’t quit in season yet.

In my Sangria, I used pears, orange, cranberries, rosemary, and cinnamon. I debated putting a little apple in it (which truly is a great idea) but last minute decided against it.

You’ll want to let the sangria sit for a good few hours. Ideally at least 4 hours actually but even overnight would work well. You want the fruit to soak up the wine and the flavors of the herbs, cinnamon sticks, and fruit to infuse into the alcohol.

Before serving, we’ll mix in some sparkling water or similarly bubbly beverage such as ginger ale or ginger beer.

The nice thing about the fact that this needs to sit for a while is that it’s unfussy to make ahead of a party so it’s one last thing you have to worry about!