Close your eyes and imagine yourself at a beachside cantina. Your server places a pitcher of red wine sangria on the table, its orange and lemon slices bobbing among ice cubes like dreams about to come true. You fill your cup and take that first sip—fruity and flavorful with a gentle pucker of tannin. Perfect. It’s a vacation in a glass.
While you might not get to embrace that winter vacation in the coming months, you can book a ticket for authentic Spanish sangria anytime. Meet Vaycay Authentic Sangria, a classic recipe red wine sangria crafted in Penedès, Spain, from locally grown grapes. Sangria is a traditional Spanish punch famed for its fruity flavors and inviting party vibe, and it commonly consists of wine, fruit juices, brandy, liqueurs, herbs, and spices. Our Vaycay Authentic Sangria is red wine-based with hints of orange zest and cinnamon, and leans towards a fun, fine wine—so it’s ready to enjoy straight from the bottle, or with a sparkling topper like seltzer and plenty of fresh fruit.
Spanish Sangria in the States
Sangria became an American favorite decades ago. Cold sangria was rescued from obscurity in the United States after World War II by Hispanic Americans and Spanish restaurants. It then enjoyed a popularity boost via the 1964 New York World’s Fair. Only sangria made in Spain (or Portugal) is allowed to be sold as sangria in Europe. The same standards do not apply to the States. One of our winemaker’s earliest jobs, back in the late 1970s, included assembling “sangria” from metro New York components in Passaic, New Jersey. The sangria work for Vaycay was done with our grower in Spain, who duplicated a Rioja Tinto blend—half Garnacha and half Tempranillo—for the base red wine.
Mix up your own sangria at home with our favorite recipes.
Search sipper recipes using our Sommology tool.
With natural sweetness, it captures the traditional spicy, fruity sweetness of sangria in a juicy red wine. This one is the real deal. The biggest advantage of producing sangria in the Penedès region, is that our grower, like everyone in the region, produces Cava. We work with crafters who are masters at producing base wines for bubbly at all different levels of residual sugar, even quite sweet, which goes with the Cava territory. We don’t sweeten this sangria, our starting point is where we need the wine to be!
Our Director of Sommology, Leslie Sbrocco, says Vaycay brings her back to her time in Sitges, a resort town south of Barcelona, and sipping sangria on a sun-splashed beach. She calls Vaycay Authentic Sangria “fiesta in a glass” and recommends a nice chill on this sweet, spicy, medium-bodied red garnished with sliced oranges.