These winter sangria recipes are easy to make, gorgeous in a glass, and perfect if you need a crowd-pleasing drink for any occasion.
When it’s cold outside, nothing beats a glass of something boozy and delicious. That’s where these winter sangria recipes come in!
Sangria is super easy to make, so it’s a great drink for entertaining that won’t add any stress to your plate.
I’ve included white, red, and rosé sangria recipes that use a wide range of different ingredients and techniques to ensure there’s a sangria for everyone on this list!
What Is Sangria?
Sangria is an alcoholic drink that originated in Spain and Portugal. In Spanish, sangria literally translates to “Blood”, which refers to the primary ingredient used in the drink: red wine.
Traditionally, sangria is made with red wine, chopped fruits, bandy, and a little sugar.
While this is still a popular way of making sangria, nowadays you can really make sangria with any type of wine, juices, liquors, etc.
The only real rules you have to follow when making sangria are 1. it has to use wine as its base and 2. it should be fruity in taste. Look, it even rhymes!
This is all to say there’s almost never a wrong answer. You can get as creative as you want, which is why I love trying out new sangria recipes each time I whip up a batch.
The Best Type of Wine For Sangria
Many wines work well in sangria, but the best wine for sangria will be:
- Fruity
- Light to medium bodied
- Unoaked
- Low in tannins (for red wines)
- Super drinkable
Basically, you want something light and fruity that will mix in seamlessly with the other ingredients. So don’t choose a super full-bodied, oaky, or tannic wine, because it will detract from the fruity flavor of the sangria.
Some examples of the best red wines for sangria are Tempranillo, Grenache, and Red Zinfandel. For whites, Pinot Grigio, Riesling, and Vinho Verde are all great choices.
For more specific recommendations and tips, here’s a full guide on choosing the best type of wine for sangria!
What Is “Winter” Sangria?
What makes a sangria a “winter” sangria is a bit subjective, but a good winter sangria should include at least one of the following:
- Seasonal winter fruits and fruit juices (i.e. pear, cranberry, citrus, pomegranate, apple, etc.)
- Warm spices like cinnamon, clove, star anise, and allspice
- Winter herbs like rosemary, thyme, or sage
With all of this in mind, let’s get right into these winter sangria recipes!
21 Easy, Delicious Winter Sangria Recipes For Any Occasion
Winter White Wine Sangria
To start us off, this is my all-time favorite white sangria for winter! It's refreshing, tart, and so tasty.
Liquid ingredients are white wine (they recommend Chardonnay, but I use Pinot Grigio), light rum, apple cider, white cranberry juice, and sparkling water. From there, you just need some chopped fruits and rosemary sprigs for garnish.
Cherry Sage Sangria
This sangria is incredibly boozy and filled with some wonderful winter flavors.
The recipe calls for dry red wine (I recommend a red blend or Red Zinfandel to add extra fruitiness), bourbon, orange liqueur, sage simple syrup, and halved cherries.
So it's pretty much 100% alcohol and sounds 100% delicious.
Sparkling Rosé Blood Orange Sangria
Blood oranges are at their peak during the winter months, so it's the best time to use them in a sangria!
This gorgeous sangria is made with fresh squeezed blood orange juice, sparkling rosé, orange liqueur, Dry sparkling blood orange soda, and sage leaves for garnish.
If you can't find the Dry soda brand, a blood orange Pellegrino or even orange flavored sparkling seltzer would have a similar effect.
Pear Sangria
This pear sangria will make you forget all your winter woes!
All you need for the recipe is white wine (like Sauvignon Blanc), pear juice, lime juice, sparkling water, and light rum. Garnish with slices of pear and rosemary for a refreshing cold weather treat.
Pomegranate Sangria
This sangria was made with the holidays in mind, but it would be perfect any time during the winter.
It uses cinnamon stick, cloves, pomegranate flavored vodka, cranberry apple juice, sweetened pomegranate juice, and red wine (I'd go with a Merlot).
So this recipe checks ALL the winter sangria boxes and would make you feel warm on the inside even though it's served on ice.
Sparkling Grapefruit Sangria
Grapefruit with a little sugar on top is one of my favorite winter breakfasts, and that's essentially what this sangria is except with booze!
Pink grapefruit juice, Sauvignon Blanc, simple syrup, sparkling lemonade (or Prosecco), sliced blood orange, lemon wedges, and sliced grapefruit are all you need to make this citrusy, pretty-in-pink goodness.
Warm Red Wine Sangria
Who doesn't love a hot drink in the wintertime!?
All you need for this recipe is red wine (Pinot Noir is recommended), cherry juice, orange juice, orange liqueur, sugar, and orange slices.
So it's essentially a mulled wine (or is mulled wine essentially hot sangria...??), and it would no doubt warm you up from the inside out!
Mulled Apple Cider Sangria
Here's another tasty hot sangria recipe to cozy up with on the couch that uses white wine instead of red.
This one only calls for TWO liquid ingredients: a quart of apple cider and a bottle of white wine (Pinot Grigio would work well). From there, you just need mulling spices, cinnamon sticks, and apple slices.
It'd be super apple-y, flavorful, and sounds like a hug in a glass!
Cranberry Sangria
Though this is labeled as a cranberry sangria, there's a WHOLE lot more happening in this drink.
For liquid ingredients, you'll need red wine, cranberry juice, spiced rum, Ruby Port, lime juice, vanilla extract, and lemon lime soda. So it uses a bunch of winter flavors that blend wonderfully together.
I also love the addition of Port, which will add extra depth, sweetness, and booziness.
Winter Citrus White Sangria
A lot of people associate citrus with the summertime, but winter is the actual harvest season for citrus.
The ingredients are Grand Marnier, white wine, brandy, citrus sparkling soda, and ALL the citrus fruit, including clementines, blood oranges, naval oranges, kumquats, lemons, and cara cara oranges.
So seriously... almost all of them. Drinking this is basically like taking a zillion milligrams of vitamin C.
Warm Cherry and Peach Sangria
Rachael Ray would never lead us astray, and this recipe sounds not only incredibly easy, but also super crushable.
It's a hot sangria with two liquid ingredients: peach schnapps and red wine (she recommends Rioja). Otherwise, you need sugar, frozen peaches, frozen cherries, and star anise. So you don't even have to chop the fruit to enjoy a mug of this deliciousness!
Spiced Maple Apple-Persimmon Sangria
Persimmon is an underused winter fruit that's soooo good in sangria!
This creative recipe makes a persimmon sauce by mixing persimmon, apples, fresh ginger slices, and maple syrup in boiling water and then blending it all up. Once you have the sauce, you put it in a pitcher with sparkling wine, apple cider, and bourbon.
If you want to get extra fancy, you can hold rosemary over the stove until it burns a little bit and put it in the pitcher to give the sangria a subtle smokey flavor.
Sangria Hot Toddy
I can't think of a better way to cure a cold than a sangria hot toddy! (I mean... other than rest, clear liquids, NyQuil...)
Anywho, this follows a pretty standard sangria recipe, but it uses honey instead of sugar for sweetness. Other ingredients are red wine (Grenache recommended), brandy, pineapple juice, winter spices, and orange slices.
I feel warm and toasty just thinking about drinking this sangria!
Winter Citrus Mint Sangria
This recipe has all of your favorite winter fruits! Pink grapefruit, blood oranges, pears and pomegranates all make an appearance in this sangria.
While it involves preparing a mint simple syrup, it's still SO easy to make. But if you're lazy like me, you can just buy mint simple syrup at the store.
The only other ingredient you need to make this refreshing, tangy sangria is sauvignon blanc.
Ginger-Cardamom Red Wine Sangria
Ginger and cardamom are the holy grail of winter spices, and they're the runaway star of this sangria recipe.
You start by making ginger cardamom syrup out of peeled ginger root, cardamom pods, and sugar. Then you mix it together with sweet vermouth, red wine, and orange juice.
The spiced syrup will make it taste like a chilled mulled wine, which sounds beyond fabulous.
Lambrusco Sangria
I'd argue Lambrusco is one of the absolute best wines for winter. If you aren't familiar with it, it's an Italian sparkling red wine that can be sweet or dry.
This recipe calls for dry Lambrusco plus brandy and orange juice. So it's bubbly, tart, and will whip up in five minutes or less!
Winter Sparkling Champagne Sangria
Speaking of bubbles, this sangria is full of sparkly goodness!
The recipe involves making a sangria out of red wine, white grape juice, unsweetened cranberry juice, orange juice, pomegranate liquor, orange liquor, and honey simple syrup. Then you top it all off with sparkling wine.
It might sound like a lot of ingredients, but the liquors would come in handy all winter long and add an extra punch of flavor to any winter cocktail.
Green Apple Sangria with Kiwi and Pear Recipe
Fun fact: even though we often associate kiwi with tropical flavors, it's actually a winter fruit!
You can use white or sparkling wine for this recipe, white cranberry juice, and vanilla vodka. For chopped fruits, you'll need kiwi, green apple, and pear.
If you're looking for a sangria that's tart, sweet, and crushable, this would do the job and then some.
Blood Orange, Ginger and Clove Sangria
This sangria truly has it all. It's spicy, fruity, boozy, and absolutely gorgeous in a glass.
To whip up a batch, you'll need white wine (Pinot Gris recommended), vodka, Grand Marnier, grapefruit juice, squeezed blood orange juice, and ginger beer. For spices, you need cinnamon sticks, ginger root, and cloves.
The ginger beer is such a nice addition that will give the sangria extra gingery flavor along with some effervescence.
Apple Sangria with Bourbon and Thyme
This recipe had me at bourbon and thyme! It combines the powers of apple cider, white wine (unoaked Chardonnay recommended), bourbon, hard cider, and thyme.
These are all flavors that work incredibly well together in the colder months and would be a hit at any winter party!
Plum Sangria
Finishing off with a sangria that's as simple as it is delicious.
The only liquid ingredients are Sauvignon Blanc, amaretto, and lemon lime soda (like Sierra Mist). Otherwise, you just need plums, nectarine, and frozen cherries.
It may be an unexpected combination, but the amaretto will add a nice sweet nuttiness while the soda will make it effervescent and bright. Sign me up for a glass of that!
Which of these sangrias are you excited to try this winter? I’m actually going to make the Mulled Apple Cider Sangria tonight because I happen to already have all the ingredients on hand! Love it when a plan comes together 😂
Also, if you have a favorite winter sangria that wasn’t included here, please let me know in the comment section below so I can give it a try!