Peach Sangria

Spanish-by-way-of-California, this peach sangria is the lazy-Sunday version: stir, chill, pour. Chilled dry white wine is the body, peach schnapps is the booster shot of fruit aroma, and thinly sliced peaches, lemon, and orange do the heavy aromatic work as they steep.

The single hour of chill time is short enough to make this a same-day cocktail, but it’s the minimum. The fruit needs that hour to release its juices into the wine. Skip it and you have peach-flavored wine, not sangria.

Use a sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, or albariño, something crisp and unoaked. Heavy, oaky chardonnay turns the drink butter-thick and clashes with the bright stone fruit.

Pro Tips

• Slice all the citrus paper-thin so it releases its oils into the wine quickly during the chill.
• Use a peach right at peak ripeness, white peaches give an especially elegant aroma if you can find them.
• Stir gently rather than vigorously, you don’t want to bruise the fruit slices into mush.
• Make a double batch for parties and chill overnight, the flavors deepen significantly with longer steeping.
• Top each glass with a splash of club soda right before serving for a fizzy lift, optional but classic.

Variations

• Swap white wine for prosecco for a bubbly sparkling version, add the prosecco at the end so it stays effervescent.
• Use rosé in place of white for a pink summer pitcher with the same fruit.
• Add fresh raspberries or strawberries along with the peach for a mixed-stone-fruit angle.