White Sangria

A few years ago I met my two sisters in Montreal Canada for a couple of days of R and R. They were there for reasons I can’t disclose and I planed to meet them for their last two days, when they had finished their business.

So I did a little research and came up with a few good spots to dine and the hip neighborhood to hang out in. We had a really good time. We used our time wisely, we ate well and we found a large outdoor food market, in the hip neighborhood. The name of this amazing market was Jean-Talon Market. It was full of produce and surrounded by cheese shops.

One of the restaurants we dined at was Boris and the other I can’t remember at this time. I do remember it was good, they served tapas and some of the seats in the restaurant were swings.

The restaurant Boris was named after the owners dog. It was a really neat spot. The dining room was a courtyard that was actually an old building with no roof. Next door, attached to the courtyard was the kitchen. We had no reservation as had been suggested by our travel guide, but made our way from the old town district to a nearby neighborhood to see if we might get a table at Boris. It was full when we arrived, but they thought they could get us a table in twenty minutes or so. So we waited a while and noticed a large pitcher of a white, iced drink on a few tables. When I ask the host what those folks were drinking he directed us to an open table and informed us it was White Sangria these folk were enjoying. Cool, a table and a quick order for a vessel of the White Sangria. I’m sure White Sangria was nothing new at the time, but we had never had it. It was good, real good. It was also a warm evening and the cool wine drink hit the spot. Just like the other night here in East Point when Stacey mixed up a batch of fruity Sangria. It reminded me of this trip and how much we have been enjoying White Sangria since.

Here’s a recipe, there are tons of them out there. Just make sure you use decent wine and fresh fruit.

This sangria takes 5 to 10 minutes to assemble in a large pitcher. Take the time to prepare it in the morning so the sangria has several hours to develop its fruity flavor.

3 tablespoons sugar
3 shots Calvados or other apple liquor
1 lime, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
2 ripe peaches, cut into wedges
3 ripe green apples seeded and cut into wedges
1 bottle white Rioja Spanish wine or other dry white wine
1 pint raspberries
Sparkling soda water, for topping off glasses of sangria at table.

Combine sugar, Calvados, lime, lemon, peaches and apples in a large pitcher. Cover with 1 bottle of Rioja wine and chill sangria several hours. To serve, spoon fruits into glasses or goblets, adding a few fresh raspberries in each glass, pour wine over top of the fruit. Top glasses of sangria off with a splash of soda water and serve.