Sangria, the perfect summer sipper.
Fruity, sparkling sangria is the summer sipping sensation
The playful combination of fresh fruit, easy-drinking wine and zippy flavors makes sangria the perfect summer sipper. But the days of mixing Boone’s Farm and 7UP are over. Today, bartenders favor balance and high-quality ingredients — including good wine — over the cloying versions of the past.
Perhaps that’s why hipster Barcelona bargoers order sangria nearly as often as the coveted gin-tonic. And these new-and-improved sangrias are popping up in restaurants and bars in the Bay Area, too.
At the trendy Teleferic Barcelona in Walnut Creek, for instance, bar manager Yuri Chauca’s brightly hued, exotic sangrias start with low-alcohol wines — typically a French Burgundy for red sangria and albarino or verdelho for white sangria — that are food-friendly and allow farmers market berries and fresh herbs to shine through.
Chauca takes the process pretty seriously. First, he mixes gin and brandy with fruits and herbs in 25-liter batches and lets the mixture sit for 24 hours. Then, he adds wine and waits another 24 hours. “This allows the flavors to come together,” Chauca explains. “It is not too sweet or tart and appeals to everyone.”
Over at Adega, the Michelin-starred Portuguese restaurant in San Jose, co-owner Carlos Carreira treats sangria as a made-to-order craft cocktail. “We look at it like a martini. If you want to make an excellent martini, you’re going to use the best vodka you can find,” the Lisbon native says.
The staff uses top-notch Portuguese wines and brings the alcohol up with quality aged ports, mainly ruby or white tawny, plus seasonal fruit — look for stone fruits, like peaches and white plums, during the summer — all served in big Bordeaux Riedel stemware to showcase the vibrant colors and ingredients.
Also coming this summer, a sampler of Adega’s entire sangria line-up: four-ounce pours of white, red, sparkling and rosé sangrias served in tiny port glasses.
“I see so many people drinking sangria with a meal and wanting to try all of them,” Carreira says. “This way, they can.”
Here’s just a sampling of the ways sangria is being interpreted by Bay Area restaurants.
Adega’s splashy take
Adega made a splash on the South Bay dining scene when it opened in January 2016, serving up modern Portuguese cuisine, along with a list boasting 300 Portuguese wines. But you can’t beat the sangrias here.
Sangria philosophy: Fresh, seasonal fruit and the best quality wines are the base for Adega’s sangrias. “We use a higher quality wine, because it shows in the sangria,” Carreira says. “If the wine is fruity, it will translate in the sangria as well.”
But the real secret? Each sangria is made to order.
Signature sip: Diners here go for the rosemary-spiked Sangria Rosé ($10) all year round. Lemon, rosemary sprigs, orange and blueberries are muddled in a late-bottled vintage port and rosé wine mixture. Topping it off: sparkling water, a blueberry and rosemary garnish and a few drops of orange juice. The finished drink has a light red hue and complex, herbal-anise flavor. The hint of sweetness comes from the port.
Perfect pairing: The key to pairing refreshing sangria is matching the drink with light dishes. Salada de Polvo ($12) — octopus salad — fills the bill. The beautifully plated dish is crowned with dried red onion, and the tender diced octopus matches the sangria’s light, bright flavors, a great way to start a meal.
Details: 1614 Alum Rock Ave., San Jose; www.adegarest.com
Pura Vida’s sangria flights
Walk into a bar with a sangria tower, and you know you’re going to have a good time. At Livermore’s Pura Vida Cocina Latina and Sangria Bar, you can get the party started with a flight of three ($20). The libations reflect the restaurant’s lively atmosphere. The best seats in the house are on the back patio, where fire pits chase away the evening chill. It’s all a great backdrop for the contemporary Latin fare here, which includes ceviche, paella, pupusas and tamales.
That sangria tower is the work of mixologist Corrine Sloan, who stacks four dispensers of housemade sangrias — the House, Just Peachy, Tradicional and Prickle-Berry-Licious — for easy pouring. The bar also offers three made-to-order sangrias.
Sangria philosophy: Owner Gianni Schell grew up with Latin American food and sangria and wanted to offer something different from the Livermore craft beer and wine scene. He believes great sangria starts with the best quality fresh fruit. Schell and Sloan like to play with sangria flavors, such as the dry White Ginger ($8). “We have a lot of fun being mad scientists,” Schell says. “People think sangria is too sweet, but we offer something for every taste.”
Signature sip: The Tradicional ($8) is Pura Vida’s most popular sangria, a slightly sweet, fruity, red-wine based libation infused with raspberry, lemon, lime and orange.
Perfect pairing: Schell pairs the Tradicional Sangria with his Colombian Paella ($16.95 full order, $10.95 half), a culinary ode to his Colombian mother. It’s made with shrimp, chorizo, peppers, onion and saffron-laced rice. “Traditionally, paella has always been served with red sangria,” he says. “Both have bold flavors and colors.”
Details: 2241 First Street, Livermore; www.puravidalivermore.com
Barcelona sips
The year-old Teleferic Barcelona delights East Bay residents with its Spanish tapas and pintxos. The restaurant — including that sensational patio bar — is owned by the Padrosa family, which also has restaurants in Barcelona and in Sant Cugat del Valles in northern Spain. Dining at Teleferic is true to the Catalonian experience, with a range of small bites, larger tapas and entrees like grilled Iberian pork and paella for two. Bar manager Yuri Chauca, who hails from Lima, Peru, crafts food-friendly cocktails and a wine program perfectly suited to the flavors of Spain.
Sangria philosophy: Chauca believes in balanced sangria — anything too sweet or tart will overpower the food — made with quality, light-bodied wines. He prefers Burgundy or pinot noir for red sangria, and fresh fruits and herbs from the farmers market. He uses gin (which is still trending in Barcelona) for the floral notes it lends sangria, and solera-style brandy for its body and “nice hint of alcohol.”
Signature sip: Sangria Teleferic ($10) is made with red wine, gin, brandy, fresh berries, mint and a chunky cinnamon stick. Chauca likes to serve it in a Bordeaux wine glass to help concentrate the floral and fruity notes of the sangria for your sniffing pleasure.
Perfect pairing: Chauca says the sangria is designed to pair with any dish on the menu, including the savory Bomba rice paella ($34, serves two). But his favorite pairing is a skewered bite of smoked salmon with mascarpone cheese, dill and capers. Look for a similar dish, El Tartare ($14), with salmon tartare, avocado, lime, jicama and manchego, on the current menu.
Details: 1500 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Walnut Creek; www.telefericbarcelona.com
Morgan Hill’s sangrias
You can’t miss La Niña Perdida’s cobalt blue bungalow just off Morgan Hill’s main drag, and you won’t want to miss chef Miriam Vega’s creative sangrias. They’re as colorful and festive as the restaurant’s Dia de Los Muertos masks and figurines. Vega, who learned to cook from her grandmother, opened the restaurant in 2014, serving wine, beer and sangria. But even after she was granted a full liquor license, diners still wanted the sangria. So Vega upped her game, offering three sangrias to pair with her elevated modern Mexican fare.
Sangria philosophy: “Sangria is a fun gathering drink,” Vega says. “It is an alternative for people who don’t want to drink hard liquor and (for) people who don’t like wine. Sangria is somewhere in between.” Vega macerates fresh fruit in wine and fresh juices for at least 24 hours to let the flavors meld.
Signature sip: Vega’s bestseller is her secret Spanish Sangria ($8), made with green apples, lemons, limes and oranges marinated in pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon, plus vodka, cinnamon and cloves. The complex, vibrant drink is served with diced, marinated fruit and lemon-lime soda. “You always want to finish a sangria with something sparkling, so it doesn’t fall flat,” Vega says.
Psst: Enjoy this sangria at
home by picking up a Sangria-to-Go bottle ($22, serves six to eight).
Perfect pairing: Vega’s salads and seafood dishes, such as her crispy Tacos de Pescado ($14), with tilapia, red cabbage and avocado, pair beautifully. The cinnamon notes in her Spanish and Pomegranate Sangrias are a great match for mole. Details: 35 E. Main Ave., Morgan Hill; www.laninaperdida.com