I hope you had a great weekend - ours was full of food! We hosted a little cocktail party for some good friends to celebrate our "almost a year!" in Asheville. Everyone brought hors d'oeuvres and my mom and I threw together a spread of fresh cut fruit, shortbread and almond madeleines for dipping into ganache - and this cocktail. We LOVE sangria - and I love that you can play with it a lot as well. Years ago my mom had this brilliant idea of sticking a few branches of fresh rosemary into a bottle of white wine; let it sit for a day or so and the wine becomes infused with the subtle and intoxicating flavor of the herb. I took that idea as my inspiration to create the Springria... it's VERY drinkable and goes quickly so we made two batches in two half gallon mason jars (you could easily cut this in half though). It takes a little prep work but it's so worth it.

SPRINGRIA

2 bottles of white wine (we used a Sauvignon Blanc)

4-6 stems of fresh rosemary (plus additional smaller ones for garnish)

3 pints of fresh strawberries

4 T. sugar

1 c. of orange liqueur (we love Harlequin)

bottle of Cava

Open your wine pour just a little off (maybe 1/4 c. - drink it!) to make room for the rosemary. Gently slide 2-3 stems of the rosemary into each bottle. Refrigerate for at least 6 hours or longer - the longer it sits, the more intense the rosemary flavor. 

You'll need to prepare your strawberries ahead as well. Leave 1 pint washed and whole for garnishing the glasses. Wash both remaining pints. The first, stem and slice all of the berries. The second, leave the stems and cut in half. Toss all the berries in the sugar and refrigerate. They need at least 4-6 hours to create enough syrup to use in the drink.

When you are ready to compose the Springria, drain 1/2 c. of strawberry syrup off the strawberries then divide the berries equally between your two mason jars. Add the syrup equally to the jars and pour a bottle of wine into each mason jar, finally adding 1/2 c. of orange liqueur to each jar. Add a few springs of fresh rosemary to each jar, seal and shake them a bit - refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve... add ice to a glass, pour the Springria straight from the mason jar (be sure to get some of those strawberries in the glass!) but leave a bit of room in the glass to top with a splash of Cava. Garnish with a whole strawberry and more rosemary. 

For another inspired spring cocktail and little bite check out our contribution that Marissa and I made to the new Equals Project!

Comments

[Rachel]

Thirsty!

[Cinnamon]

Yummy!

[jenni.]

that sangria sounds great, i could do with some of it and some sun!

[jen a]

it's been pretty spotty here too jenni - ready for the pools to open and flip flop weather everyday!

[Toni]

I'm not a big fan of wine, but I *love* sangria. This recipe sounds amazing! And, I have nice rosemary bush growing outside my front door :)

[Melissa Cowan]

I tried this recipe last weekend, it is always so hot and humid in Singapore and this was the perfect cold and refreshing afternoon treat. Thank you! Mel

[jen a]

toni - same for me about wines ;)

so happy you enjoyed it mel! makes me miss singapore ;)

[sewa mobil jakarta]

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

[Malka]

Just saw this. It sounds fantastic. Can't wait to give it a try once the weather warms up here a bit more in Portland, OR.

[Hillary Butler {Fine Art}]

This looks like it came from heaven! I can taste it now. Pinning and cannot WAIT to make this!!!!!!

[kale]

Great idea! And the rosemary looks so pretty. I see no need to cut this recipe in half. ;)

[the wanna be country girl]

Wow!! those look wonderful. I'm over-run with rosemary, so I'm glad to use some of it...and I never need a reason to enjoy wine. Can't wait to try them! Thanks for sharing.
~ Caroline