SANGRIA
THE ORIGINAL WINE COCKTAIL, sangria has been a staple on bar menus for decades – mostly as a profitable way to breathe new life into days-old wine. But with the rise of farm-to-glass ingredients and a focus on quality cocktails, many bartenders are handcrafting sangria with the same care as they would an Old-Fashioned. “It’s become more than just a combination of red wine and brandy topped with some sliced fruit. Now you will find many creative interpretations available from rosé-based sangrias to those packed with cucumber, dill, strawberries, and saké,” says Seaport Hotel’s Beverage Director Eric Loring.
Loring has seen the popularity of sangria rise over the past few years, and says it’s a top-seller during the warmer months. “The perfect balance of fruit, acidity, sweetness, and alcohol makes sangria a crowd pleaser.” TAMO, the hotel’s bistro and bar, was one of several area restaurants that participated in the “Sangria Smackdown” – a friendly competition held in the spring at the hotel. Along with City Bar, Empire Restaurant and Lounge, Legal Test Kitchen, MC Spiedo, Sam’s at Louis, and The Barking Crab, TAMO’s bartenders served up samples of their sangria to a crowd of attendees who voted on their favorite. The Barking Crab took top honors with a Cucumber Rosé version.
Mixing up sangria at on-premise establishments continues to rise 11% to 13% according to a recent Technomic Trends in Adult Beverage (TAB) report, and the retail category is following suit. While bottled or boxed sangrias have been sitting on shelves for years, innovation is driving renewed interest. Eppa SupraFruta Sangria was the first to focus on a set of different product attributes (organic, antioxidants, premium) that would appeal to a health-conscious consumer when they launched at Whole Foods in 2O11. By 2O13 the brand was acquired by Deutsch Family Wine, makers of Yellowtail wine, which also counts a sangria among its many SKUs.
Sangria has also enjoyed an image boost from two “Real Housewives” reality television stars. First from Bethenny Frankel, who added a sangria to her Skinnygirl line in 2O11 and, most recently, Lisa Vanderpump with the launch of her LVP Sangria in 2O14. Her daughter, Pandora Vanderpump Sabo, is a partner in the brand and says her family has been making sangria in the their restaurants for years. Blaming inconsistency and the time-consuming process of making sangria coupled with a lack of premium bottled sangrias available, the Vanderpumps decided to make their own in Valencia, Spain.
“It took us months, but we finally created LVP Sangria. It’s not as sweet as other brands as we add no sugar – and no sugar substitutes either. It’s similar in calories to wine – it’s a wine-based sangria instead of fruit-based. Where most bottled sangrias are about 6% alcohol, our ABV is 1O.5% – so it definitely has a kick!” says Sabo.
Now in 4O states and nine countries, Sabo sees strong sangria sales, even during the fall and winter months. “Massachusetts has been great for us – even when it’s cold and snowing people have been drinking our sangria.” This summer, the brand has focused on Cape Cod. “I think many are looking for fun, more interesting options in what they drink, and in the wine category there isn’t much!” Another added bonus: the labels are acrylic so they won’t tear off in water.
Boston-based Latitude Beverage Company, producers of the 9O+ Cellars line of wines, jumped into the sangria category with the launch of Mija (MEE-HA) this past May. Kevin Mehra, President of Latitude, was inspired to create a sangria after observing a bartender making a batch that included a huge bag of white sugar. He cancelled his drink order and oped for a beer instead. Mehra then began talking to retailers and researching the category. “I was surprised that the pre-made sangria category was much larger than I expected, and growing at more than 15% per year in volume and even faster in dollar sales. I tasted many of the current bottled sangria options and thought all of them were very thin, sweet and had a chemical profile – sweetened cranberry juice is the best way I could explain it.”
Knowing that his 9O+ customers expected a value price coupled with a quality product, Mehra set out to make something “completely different than any other product currently available in the market.” Made from dry red wine and 1OO% real fruit juice with no artificial additives or preservatives, Mija is 9.5% ABV and packaged in a reusable swing-top bottle. “The product is heat pasteurized instead of filtered. This innovative approach results in a product with actual fruit pulp and fresh home-made taste. The base of blood orange provides for a slightly dryer, not-as-sweet taste, and then the super fruits (pomegranate and acai berry) add to the original flavor and boost the antioxidant value of the wine to three times that of a typical glass of red wine,” explains Mehra.
Like Sabo, Mehra sees a changing demographic in the wine category with a trend toward premium products, natural ingredients. He says the response from both trade and consumers to Mija has been overwhelming. “The sell-through and sales success ratio are higher than any product I have launched in my career, including when we first launched 9O+ Cellars.”
The growth of casual wine drinkers coupled with the continued cocktail craze has made sangria the current sweet spot. From UV Vodka Sangria to a bevy of sangria flavored malt beverages, expect the demand for sangria to extend well beyond the summer months – TAMO makes both a fall and holiday version of their sangria. So if you think sangria is just seasonal, think again.
SEAPORT SANGRIA
From TAMO Bistro & Bar
Batch recipe
4 bottles red wine
(Tempranilloor Grenache work best)
1O ounces of lemonade
5 ounces of orange juice
5 ounces of brandy
5 ounces of white rum
5 ounces of Merlet Crème de Peach
several cups of macerated strawberries,
raspberries and peaches
marry all ingredients and let it chill out
in the fridge for two days.
BOURBON SANGRIA
From Laura Valente of Citizen (Boston)
and her blog InfinateAppetite.com
Single serving recipe
4 pieces of luxardo cherries
¼ ounce of simple syrup
1 ounce of Four Roses Yellow Label bourbon
1½ ounces of MIJA Sangria
Soda water
muddle the 4 cherries in a mixing tin
or pint glass.
add simple syrup, bourbon and sangria.
add ice and shake – you need the cherries
to make their way through everything.
dump into a Collins glass, add a bit more ice
and top with soda water.
SANGRIA ROYALE
From LVP Sangria
Single serving recipe
3 blackberries
¼ lemon
2 ounces of chilled LVP Red sangria
1 ounce of chilled Rosé Champagne
add the blackberries to a shaker
and squeeze the lemon over them.
muddle vigorously.
add the sangria to the shaker and shake.
pour into a Champagne coupe.
top with Champagne.
