In my view, sangria should be gently sweet, delightfully fizzy, and packed with fresh, seasonal fruit. This easy white peach sangria delivers all of that — the perfect sip for a warm afternoon.
Hello!
I’ll admit: before I developed this recipe, I thought I didn’t like sangria. What I’d tried were overly sweet, thin-tasting mixes with little or no real fruit. Once I focused on using seasonal fruit, balanced sweetness, and bubbles, I discovered what sangria should be — and this white peach version is exactly that.
Sweetness is subtle, the fruit flavors come through, and the bubbly lifts everything. It’s an easy cocktail to make and even easier to enjoy.
When making sangria, a few choices shape the final drink. The base wine is the first decision I made for this recipe. I use a medium-dry Riesling because it brings bright fruit notes — apple, peach, apricot — that pair beautifully with fresh peaches and berries. A medium-dry Riesling provides enough natural sweetness to harmonize with the fruit without turning the drink into a dessert cocktail. It’s also easy to find a good bottle at a reasonable price, which makes it ideal for mixing into a cocktail.
With the Riesling as the base, I add a little brandy for depth and an orange liqueur for bright citrus aromatics. Then comes the fruit: ripe white or yellow peaches, fresh raspberries, and lemon slices. Letting the mixture steep in the refrigerator for several hours — ideally overnight — allows the fruit to flavor the wine and creates a lively sangria base.
Tip: To cut peaches into neat wedges, slice them along the equator. Even clingstone peaches often release their pit with a simple twist when cut that way.
A sangria base is delicious on its own, but the finishing touch is the fizz. Instead of using sugary soda, this recipe finishes with a brut Cava (or another dry sparkling wine). Cava adds bright bubbles with low residual sugar, keeping the cocktail light, lively, and balanced. If you prefer, you can add the sparkling wine to each glass individually to preserve its effervescence.
Young Cava tends to be light, fruity, and slightly citrusy, making it an excellent match for peach and citrus-scented sangrias. Using a dry sparkling wine keeps the drink refreshing rather than cloying.
With fresh fruit, a thoughtful wine base, a splash of brandy and orange liqueur, and a bubbly finish, this white peach sangria has become a summer staple for me. It’s simple to prepare, easy to scale up for a party, and reliably delicious.
If you try this White Peach Sangria, please share your experience and rating — I love hearing how it turned out for you.
– Happy Eating, Annemarie
Easy White Peach Sangria
6 hrs
6 hrs
8 drinks
175 kcal
Just a Little Bit of Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 bottle Riesling medium dry
- 3 oz brandy
- 1 oz orange liqueur such as Grand Marnier or Cointreau
- 2 peaches diced
- 12 raspberries
- 1 lemon sliced and seeded
- 2 tbsp agave syrup optional
- 1 bottle brut Cava or other dry sparkling wine
Instructions
- In a large pitcher, combine the Riesling, brandy, orange liqueur, diced peaches, raspberries, and lemon slices. Refrigerate and let the mixture steep for at least 6 hours, preferably up to one day, so the fruit infuses the wine.
- Before serving, taste the sangria base. If you prefer it sweeter, stir in agave syrup or a little honey to taste. Pour in the brut Cava, gently stir to combine, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Adding Sweetener: Taste the sangria base before adding any sweetener. If it’s already sweet enough, skip the agave. Honey works well if you don’t have agave.
- Serving: For maximum fizz, portion the sangria base into glasses and top each glass with Cava right before serving.
- Pouring Tip: Skim off the lemon slices or other floating fruit before pouring to make it easier to pour and avoid clogging the spout.
- Winter Variation: When fresh peaches aren’t available, drained canned peaches in juice make a good substitute; chop if needed and add to the base.
