Sangria: Spain’s Ingenious Wine Punch

The purposeful plucking of guitar strings filled with earnest emotion. An April sun that is so bright and warm that it pulls on one’s thirst as if it were the height of July in most places. And village streets that can overwhelm one with its scents of chorizo, garlicky shrimp and roasting meats. Ah, my senses are so looking forward to this overload as I prepare for a weeklong trip to Andalucia, Spain. What can I say? I am thinking about Spain’s beautiful rioja wines, complex sherries and sangria that just seems to celebrate life with its bright refreshment.

Every Tuesday is sangria night at The Cellar Door in Downers Grove, and they know that sangria transforms ordinary get-togethers into fun, festive fiestas. It’s true. Lucky for me, I will get to survey sangria and tapas in the part of Spain where both apparently originate. In honor of that upcoming excursion, I thought it would only be fitting to write about sangria.

Sangria’s supposed history

One of the problems of researching a drink so embedded in a culture is that information gets passed around much like children play that “telephone” party game. Thankfully, a book, Sangria: Fun and Festive Recipes, is available to set the record straight. According to author Mittie Helmich, the first recorded sangria is attributed to Romans who lived in Andalusia, the Spain’s southern coast, around 300 B.C., and who cooled themselves off with a nice little wine drink made from a young red wine, steeped with fresh local fruit and magnified by regional spices and other personalized flair.

But here is where it’s hard to distinguish fact from lore. Most say the word sangria comes from the Spanish word for blood, sangre, in a nod to the red wine used to make this drink. However, according to Helmich, lexicographers have hypothesized a Sanskrit derivation: sakkari means “sugared wine.”  Whatever the case, Americans reportedly didn’t get a good taste of sangria until it was introduced at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York City.

The right way to make sangria

As best as I can tell (having yet to talk to the “locals), there are only three rules to sangria.

1. Sangria must contain wine.

2. Sangria must contain fruit.

3. Sangria must be refreshingly chilled.

After those rules, it would seem almost anything goes. Although we think of sangria as a light red wine drink, sangria blanca employs white wine or even Spain’s wonderful sparkling wine, cava. Sangria fruits generally include apples, pears and citrus, but it’s clear that the Spanish focus on locally grown produce when making sangria. When plums, melons or peaches are in season, in sangria they go. In more tropical locales, one may see mango or pineapple or other local produce. The goal is to keep it fresh, using only the best fruit.

So, after the fruit and the wine, the craziness really begins. Some fortify their sangria with liqueurs or liquor. Others add fizzy mineral water to give it a little bounce. Spices, again generally of local origin, customize and regionalize sangria. According to Helmich, Mediterranean Spain’s concoctions utilize peaches, apricots, melons, cherries, grapes, oranges and pears from Barcelona and Valencia while tapping Catalonia’s cava or the ever-abundant riojas. However, in Andalusia, where Moors had a strong foothold, the sangrias may blend in sherry (it’s local, afterall), saffron, figs and dates with dry white wines, sweet Muscat or reds from Valdepeñas.

But the original American sangria, served in the 1964 World’s Fair Spanish Pavilion was introduced by Alberto Heras, who opened a tony restaurant on New York’s Park Avenue after his great success at the World’s Fair. Thanks to Jane and Michael Stern and their great book, American Gourmet, the recipe is presented for all to use and fiesta-ize their next dinner party or gathering:

1964 World’s Fair Sangria

Serves 4

1 bottle red Spanish wine

2 tbsp. sugar

1 lemon, cut into slices

½ orange, cut into slices

1 ounce Spanish brandy

1 ounce Cointreau

2 cups ice cubes

1 cup cold club soda

An hour before serving, pour wine into a large pitcher. Add sugar and mix well. Stir in lemon and orange slices, brandy and Cointreau. Chill until ready to serve. Just before serving, add ice cubes and club soda, stirring just enough to chill very well.

Obviously, there’s not a whole lot of fruit in this recipe, so like the Spanish, one is always free to extemporaneously deviate with more or different fruit and other choices for fortification. While the Sterns recommend you drink this sangria strained from its ice and fruit a la World’s Fair style, many other sangria lovers say, it’s up to you. Bottomline, the drink should be fresh, fruity and a whole lot of fun. Salud!

–Ivy Kupec

 

Surf and Turf: New Italian Varietals for Spring

It is really all about the spoils of travel – not necessarily our own travels, but those of others who thoughtfully return with souvenirs that either make us feel as though we have been there alongside our dear friends or are so energized we must venture there ourselves. In the case of every Hinsdale Inspired Wine Club member, that wandering friend bearing souvenirs is Sean Chaudhry. He goes to Argentina and returns with new friends, great wines and extravagant wine tastings. In Washington State, it’s more of the same. So, when he recently went to Italy, you’d think we might be tired of his stories, his wines and his “discoveries.” But the truth is we never tire of them. He dines with a winemaker in Venice who introduces him to a playful white wine that comes from the Italian coast along the Adriatic Sea that seems destined for a terrace tabletop overlooking budding daffodils. He goes to the edge of the Italian Alps and discovers an unusual medium-bodied red wine, perfect for the fresh birdsongs of spring. So, we can picture him there, laughing, sipping, discovering, and thankfully it leads to an impressive pair of wines for the April wine club. Two wines you most likely have never experienced transport us to Italy’s surf and turf, awakening our senses to new experiences that feel like their own special passport.

2009 Marchetti Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi, Marche, Italy

You’ve had Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio and many other white wines, but have you ever had Verdicchio? Here is a 100 percent Verdicchio wine that screams spring. From the Marche region, next to Umbria, this particular Verdicchio comes from just outside Ancona and near the Adriatic. The varietal gets its “verde” part of its name from the slight green or yellow color these wines tend to display. The nose is lime zest and cold, wet river stone. The taste is refreshingly citrus with playful acidity and complex minerality that are ubiquitous to this varietal. Don’t look for oakiness because there is no barrel aging here. Instead, this is a gorgeous, crisp wine with a long, mouth-coating finish that is perfect for the lighter foods that come with spring.

2007 Poderi Elia Dolcetto D’Alba

Welcome to La Dolce Vita with this incredibly silky smooth, medium-bodied red wine from northern Italy. Again, here is an unusual varietal that many will never have tasted, and what a wonderful introduction! Winemaker Federico Stella has taken this black wine grape, barrel aged it and produced a very clean wine full of bright red fruits, rhubarb and a hint of sweet cigar smokiness. The nose brings forth both jammy and mineral aromas. The low acid level and “cashmere” tannins of this wine have made it a Piedmont everyday affair that is most often served chilled. It accompanies Mediterranean cuisine perfectly, making it a natural match for grilled meats and vegetables.

 

Craft Beers: It’s that Personal Touch

Wine lovers long ago learned that vines that get special attention yield the best wine. Artisanal winemakers will plant vines tilted in just the right direction for proper sunlight, checking them daily to ensure growth is as expected. They walk the vineyards themselves, touching the leaves and fruit, evaluating the plant’s color and structure, and perhaps squinting their eyes as they size up the vineyard as a whole to determine when it is best for harvest.

That is why it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that when beers are given this same sort of attention, they too become works of art to be enjoyed by all the senses. Call them what you want – craft beers, microbrews, artisanal beers – they are the malt beverages that are rocking the beer world, thanks to the creative and attentive route these beer makers have taken.

Take me to Belgium, please

For me, the masters of the “craft” beer are the Belgians. Beer connoisseurs know it for its wide array of beers which number more than 500 and provide a beer-tasting experience far different than traditional pilsners and lagers. Whether it is the sour-tasting Geuze, a cherry-flavored Kriek, a Hoegarden “white” beer or the many monastery brews like Westmalle, these beers are a defining part of Belgian, and specifically Flemish culture.

Visit Belgium, and one quickly learns that the monks have long been at work developing beer that is unlike anything else in the world.  Some say that monasteries got started in the beer business when water wasn’t safe to drink, so they made and drank beer instead.

Whatever the origin, Belgian monasteries make wonderful, albeit sometimes very potent Trappist ales. Belgian golden ales, such as Duvel, Piraat and Delirium Tremens, have a uniquely aromatic delivery that is almost as heavenly (no pun intended, Duvel Fans) as their unique almost floral taste. For the unacquainted, the potent nature of these brews can come as a surprise, but gosh darn it if they aren’t some of the most delicious beers I have ever had. But Belgium has is a universe of unique beers, and I believe it is because the beer culture is quintessentially “craft,” nearly all being made in smaller quantities with personal attention and an eye toward creating unique beer experiences. In my mind, most Belgian beers provide an experience that is about as faraway from pilsner as one can find him or herself.  BTW:  Delirium Tremens was voted best beer in the world in 1998, so seriously—this is good stuff.

India, really?

One of the most popular beer styles seen among craft beer makers is the India Pale Ale.  And there’s a good reason for this:  it’s damn good, and the category seems to have a lot of latitude. The question many may have is how is India involved in this wonderful group of beers. Considered a subcategory of the Brits’ pale ales, the IPA dates back to the 1700s when the British sent beer to their troops in India, loaded with extra hops and alcohol to preserve it better for the long ship ride there. Those characteristics in IPAs are still true today. Versions like that from Sierra Nevada, Dogfish Head, Chinook are described as being American IPAs, which differs slightly from the British style. However, other than their usual hoppy nature, IPAs, American or otherwise, are not a consistent entity. Stone IPA, for example, is dry hopped for an extra two weeks to develop its own unique taste and aroma. And thankfully that creativity resulted in great beer that earned it a 100-point rating from RateBeer.

Pub Lovers Unite

Craft beers were made for pubs. But short of enjoying a Euro pale lager while singing rounds of O’ Danny Boy at the corner tavern, we can try to replicate that enjoyment at home or with friends with the bottled variety as well. The nice thing about craft beer is that it can cater to the specific tastes you enjoy in your beer.  If you like your beer more malty, Double Bastard Ale might be just the one for you. If you like one of those floral, less carbonated British lagers, then you might prefer a Samuel Smith. They key, most likely, as you explore this ever-expanding market is to know what you like. Beer tastings and taking advice from people you trust can lead you to your new favorite brew. For folks who like variety in their beer, craft beers are a boon because they are only going to grow.

I live in Germany where all beer is local so distribution can be minimized.  Beck’s beer may be big up north where it is made, but it is nearly impossible to find here in southern Germany. And that’s okay because we have Stuttgart-made beers that are equally good or better that don’t have to be shipped cross-country. So, as microbrews grow and we have more local options, we have the opportunity to pop open a cold one and even feel good about doing our part in reducing our dependence on foreign oil. It’s a bit of a leap, but what the heck; I’ll drink to that.

 

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