National Sangria Day

Wine was mixed with honey, spices, and anything else was available to the ancient Greeks and Romans. These drinks were known as "hippocras," and they were sometimes heated in the same way that mulled wine was. Mulled wine and sangria both have Hippocras as a forefather. Because the water at the time was contaminated and hazardous to drink, these were consumed on a regular basis. The water became drinkable once a splash of alcohol was added, and taste was added by mixing it with watered down wine.

Sangria is a drink made from red wine that has been popular in Europe for hundreds of years. Claret, a British word for Bordeaux wine from Bordeaux, France, would be the punch's base. Traditionally, a mix of cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, and merlot is used to make this red wine. For added flavor, brandy and fruit would be used. "Claret Cup Punch" was served at all sizes of parties in the 1700s and 1800s. It's even the preferred beverage of Jane Austen's heroines.

In 1,100 BC and 200 BC, the Phoenicians and Romans cultivated miles of vineyards in Spain. This sparked a brisk wine shipping trade, with Spanish wines soothing the majority of Rome's thirst. In Spain's environment, red grapes and fruits thrived, and the natives began referring to their wine punches as Sangria, which means "bloodletting" in Spanish. The punch is known as zurra in southern Spain and is made with peach or nectarine. Sangria is typically produced with red wines in Spain, but it can also be made with white wine, which is known as "sangria blanco."

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