Summer is for sipping sangria: Peach Honey Sangria made with white wine, fresh peaches, and honey
Here we are in the final month of summer. Sure, summer doesn’t officially end until September, but let’s face it – it’s summer until Labor Day then all the pumpkin things start hitting stores. Let’s pump the brakes on pumpkin and bring on the peaches. Peaches are the one fruit I like eating as a snack, so I tend to buy buckets full before they’re all gone. Half to eat now and half to use in peach recipes.
Even though I have plenty of peach desserts, it’s time for a drink. One of my favorite summer cocktails is sangria. Sangria is a wine-based cocktail mixed with fruit and another liquid, usually another liqueur or juice if you don’t want to add extra alcohol. I’ve made several sangria recipes in the past with different fruit – strawberry vanilla sangria, watermelon blueberry sangria, even red apple cider sangria for fall – but this time I wanted to take advantage of juicy, summer peaches with Peach Honey Sangria. Because sangria needs time for the flavors to develop, you can make a pitcher and have it in your fridge all week to enjoy. Pour a glass and enjoy your summer evening on the porch (or pour a glass and enjoy your evening on the couch like me. Who needs porches anyway?)
For sangria, my go-to white wine is Pinot Grigio. You can also use Sauvignon Blanc for the base. Whatever varietal you pick, make sure it’s relatively inexpensive and a little on the dry side as you’ll be adding sweetness in the recipe. Not too cheap that you won’t want to drink it, but not too expensive because you’re making a cocktail with other ingredients.
Typically sangria is sweetened with a simple syrup (sugar dissolved in water), but I chose honey instead. Honey and peaches go well together, so why not make combine the two into a cocktail? Since honey is already a liquid, you can add it directly to the wine and skip making the syrup on the stovetop.
In addition to white wine I used peach schnapps, which is a spirit made from distilled peaches. It adds additional peach flavor to the sangria along with the fresh peach slices. You can use peach juice or peach nectar instead if you want to cut back on the alcohol.
Peach Honey Sangria
Ingredients
- 1 bottle (750 ml) white wine, such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc
- 1 cup peach schnapps (or peach nectar/juice)
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup honey
- 2 peaches, pitted and sliced
- 1 lemon, sliced
- 1 cup seltzer
Instructions
- In a large pitcher, mix together the wine, peach schnapps, 1/4 cup honey, peaches, and lemon slices. Taste and add remaining 1/4 cup honey, if desired. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, before serving. Right before serving, add the seltzer.
annie says
I can never get enough peaches this time of year. I bough a half-peck this Saturday and they’re already almost gone. Now I can even work them into my evening cocktails. Sweet!
Carla says
I hear you! I bought a quart on Sunday and probably already half of them. They are perfect too – juice running down my arm with every bite.
Susan says
YUM!!!!! Peaches are probably my favorite fruit and we just bought a big bucket of them at a local farm market. I’ve frozen a bunch of them, and used some for a smoothie bowl yesterday. This sounds like it would be a perfect way to use more of them (I’d use peach puree instead of schnapps). The only wine we have is a red moscato, but I think it might work well with this…
Carla says
Peach puree instead of schnapps will work! Let me know how it goes with the red moscato.
Susan says
I ended up using a bottle of champagne we found in the fridge (one of the perks of being in a beach house with everyone else gone), with a little of the moscato. It turned out pretty well (didn’t use the seltzer). It turned out okay, but it would have been much better with the moscato. My husband told me that when he was in Spain many years ago, the Spanish would use odds and ends of wine to make sangria, so I felt good about what I did. But it would be best without champagne (don’t try that…) :-)
Carla says
Thanks for reporting back! I imagine the champagne was probably a bit too sweet for sangria. Guess now you have to make it again with the moscato (oh darn, right?) ;)
Susan says
Actually it was a brut champagne, and ended up being rather bitter (my husband says that carbonation creates bitterness). But yes, I’ll have to try it again with moscato – which is a sweet wine. So I’ll be cautious about adding honey.
Carla says
Yes you may not need as much honey if your wine is a bit sweeter.
Tia says
This will be my signature Drink for my wedding. Wondering if you had any tips on expanding the recipe to make for a large crowd. I have 150 guests.
Carla says
Congrats on your wedding! I feel honored to have my recipe chosen :) I don’t have any catering experience, but if I had to guess: You can get around 8 glasses per bottle of wine. Probably more if you use smaller glasses and/or pour for your guests. Luckily sangria can be made ahead of time, so you can make it a few days before then add the peaches on wedding day.