The 5 Best Red Wines for Sangria (Image credit: Jayme Henderson) So, you’ve taken notes from Emma on how to make the perfect red wine sangria, and you’re ready to make your first pitcher. But which red wine should you use? Most recipes simply call for the broad category of "dry red wine." Let’s take away the guesswork and narrow down some specific styles of wine that deliciously complement the fresh, fruity essence of summer sangria. A traditional Spanish libation, sangria is a wine-based "punch" that includes seasonal fruit, a sweetener, brandy, and sometimes a splash of soda water. Wine takes the center stage in this cocktail, so choose a wine that is fruity but dry, has good acidity, and is lower in tannins. Feel free to try other fruit-driven wines, like Merlot or Malbec. Just select a style that is not too tannic or heavily oaken. The 5 Best Wines for Summer Sangria Here are five specific wines that fit those guidelines. 1. Garnacha - Garnacha (grenache grown in Spain) generally has lower tannins, showcases rich red fruits, and has great acidity.

These characteristics make garnacha my personal go-to for making stellar red sangria. Good pick: Bodegas Borsao from Tres Picos - Grape: Garnacha. 2. Tempranillo - Tempranillo, another Spanish varietal, provides a deep hue; and notes of black cherries, blackberries, and cola. Choose tempranillos labeled as “Crianza” or “Joven” to avoid a heavily oaked flavor. Good pick: Palacios Remondo from La Vendimia - Grape: Tempranillo-Garnacha blend. 3. Primitivo or Zinfandel - Iterations of the same grape, primitivo (from Italy) and zinfandel (grown mostly in California) are excellent for sangria. The wines usually exhibit rich, jammy fruits, accented with spice and floral notes. Good pick: Rancho Zabaco from Dancing Bull - Grape: Zinfandel. Already have a great bottle of red wine on hand? Follow this simple recipe, and you'll be sipping on sangria tomorrow. (Image credit: Leela Cyd) 4. Bonarda - Argentina’s lesser-known gem-of-a-wine, bonarda, is usually lower in price, offering a great value for its lush, fruity style.

Bonarda is often blended with other varietals, but on its own, it delivers rich raspberry- and plum-driven, ripe juice. Good pick: Catena from Alamos - Grape: Bonarda. 5. Nero d’Avola - Grown and produced in southern Italy, Nero d'Avola is dark, soft, and juicy. Nero d’Avola also makes wonderful expressions of dry rosé — great to use in a lighter-style sangria, such as Maureen's Strawberry & Limoncello Rosé Sangria. Good pick: Cantine Barbera - Grape: Nero d’Avola. Region: Sicilia DOC, Italy. A Few Tips for the Perfect Summer Sangria If the wine you chose is too dry for you, sweeten your sangria by adding more fruit juice, simple syrup, agave nectar, or a splash of tonic water. Make sangria a day ahead, so flavors can integrate (kind of like how homemade soup tastes so much better the next day). Use a good wine, but don't go too crazy on the price. Choose a bottle you wouldn’t mind enjoying on its own. Wine is the base ingredient, after all, so let it shine!

When you come to the fine restaurant and the waiter hands you the wine list, you are likely to start feeling a little uncomfortable. When you need to purchase a bottle of wine as a present or for a special occasion, you find yourself marooned in the decision-making process and end up buying the cheapest (or most expensive) wine, depending on your budget. When you are asked about the taste of wine you are having at a dinner-party, you are likely to say something like “It’s nice, not very sweet… pictures of wine farms Either it is because you hate to decipher the wine list, or because your wine knowledge is no deeper than telling red from white, it doesn’t matter. best wine to turkeyThe important thing is that if you just name the first wine you see on the list in the restaurant, or select the wine you always order, you deprive yourself of a wonderful and unique experience. buy wine farm

It means you have never been truly introduced to the fantastic world of wines and wine tasting. You don’t need to learn all the nuances, but knowing the types of wine and some basic aspects to it will certainly increase the pleasure of tasting it as well as make you sure of yourself whenever you need to choose wine again. Let’s begin with red wine varietals. There are around 50 key red wine varietals, which makes clear why it is difficult to be a wine expert without proper knowledge and training. best red italian wine 2015You can be sure that you are on the right way to understanding the wine culture if you know at least the red wines list.top red wines under 30 dollars You should know that the color of red wine is taken from the color of grapes, and the individual wine’s color depends on the grape type as well as the wine’s age. best 2008 red wine

The hues range in depth of color and newer red wines will be different in color from well-aged red wines. It is not necessary to go deep into the fermentation process, dispersion, pigmentation or tannins. Your ultimate goal is to appreciate and enjoy the beautiful results of it all: garnet, deep violet, dark red, light red, ruby, opaque purple or maroon color spectrum of red wine and the complexity of taste. Dry red wines have a dry level of sugar, which means that a residual sugar level in these wines is 1.2-1.4% or lower. So “not very sweet” largely means that at that dinner-party you tasted some good dry red wine. As a matter of fact, almost all red table wines you find in the store on the shelf are dry. The sweeter wines are usually on a different shelf. It is worth asking for a brief consultation if you are not sure. The most common red wines, the names of which you have certainly heard are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Chianti, Barolo, Barberesco, Malbec, Tempranillo, Petite Sirah, Syrah, Shiraz, Sangiovese, Grenache, Bordeaux, and Côtes du Rhône.

Merlot is considered to be the baby of the dry red wine family. It has a softer taste than many others. Cabernet Sauvignon wines are probably the most popular. They age well and are great with meat dishes. Pinot Noir is a medium dry red wine, known for being great with spicy foods, and most meats. Red Zinfandel is a heavy wine, known to go perfectly well with pasta and any other tomato based foods or sauces. However, the word “heavy” is not quite the word wine-lovers use when describing some types of wine. Instead of light and heavy, red wines are better described in terms of being light-bodied, medium-bodied or full-bodied. The body type of wine refers to the texture and the weight that you will feel on your tongue when you drink it. It means how thin or thick, watery or oily the wine feels in your mouth. A light-bodied red wine is more watery, subtle, delicate, lower in alcohol, has fewer tannins present and less presence on the palate. A medium-bodied red wine has more substance but not very thick.

It contains more tannins than the light-bodied wines. Some of the typical examples of medium-bodied red wines are Merlot, Shiraz or Chianti. Full-bodied wines have a rich, heavy, complex flavor that lingers in the mouth. They have the highest tannin and alcohol content. Cabernet and French Bordeaux are good examples of full-bodied red wines. Now comes the aging aspect. Different grapes make wines with different aging requirements. For example, Cabernet Sauvignons age for longer periods than Merlots. Most bottles of red wine should be opened and consumed within three years of the vintage date. As a rule, more expensive wines are typically designed to become better with age, they gain complexity of taste, while inexpensive wines do not benefit from aging. To appreciate and enjoy tasting red wine to the fullest, you’ll need a special red wine glass that is an oval or egg-shaped bowl that narrows slightly at the top, which allows room to swirl your wine before you smell and taste it.