I don’t know about you, but for me nothing is better on a hot summer day than a cold glass of sangria. I’ve been making sangria for a few years now, and I always get asked by my friends what I put in it. My secret is to keep it simple and let the fruit and wine speak for themselves and so I don’t add any additional sweeteners or liquors.

I start out with a good bottle of red wine. I like to use red blends since they stay consistent from year to year. Ménage à Trois Red and Apothic Red are two of my favorites. Then, I add a lot of fruit. My usual go to fruits are strawberries, oranges, pineapples, limes, and apples, but you can use anything that is in season.

Once the fruit is sliced (make sure the pieces are small enough to fit in a wine glass) and added to the red wine, I give them time to marinate for lack of a better word. By refrigerating over night, you really give the wine a chance to pick up the fruit flavors. The only thing left to do the next day is to add the sparkling wine. Here, I used a bottle of prosecco because I happened to have a bottle already, but for a sweeter sangria I’ve used sweet sparkling wines such as Barefoot Moscato Spumante.

The great thing about this sangria is all of the work is done the day before and on the day of your party or get together, all you have to do is pop the bottle of sparkling wine and add it to your pitcher.