Instructions

1. Start with any kind of wine you like -- cheap wine, fine wine, sparkling wine, dessert wine, red wine, white wine -- it all tastes fabulous in sangria. Pour wine into a pitcher.

2. Add roughly half the equivalent quantity of other liquids for each bottle of wine you use. These liquids can be sparkling water, fruit juice, sweetened sodas like ginger ale, lemonade or a combination of these.

3. Add about 2 cups of fresh or frozen fruit per bottle of wine. Use fruit that looks pretty floating in the sangria like peaches, strawberries, pineapple and blueberries.

4. Add a kicker, if you like, in the form of 1/4 cup of liquor per bottle of wine. This could be brandy, cognac or a flavored liquor. Rum and vodka also work wonderfully. This step is optional.

5. Taste the pre-chilled sangria to see if it's sweet enough. If not, you may want to add a bit of simple syrup. Mix one part sugar with one part hot water to make simple syrup. Use simple syrup as a sweetener to ensure you do not have crunchy sugar crystals in your sangria.

6. Cover the pitcher and let the sangria rest in a refrigerator for at least two hours. This lets the flavors mingle before you serve the sangria. Chilling means you won't have to add much ice. Ice will dilute and change the proportions of your sangria.

7. Garnish before serving with a few slices of fresh fruit and ice, if desired. Citrus slices, strawberries and pineapple slices make lovely garnishes for sangria.