White Wine and Sparkling Cider Sangria

It was very warm last week, 97°....a premature summer from my perspective.  I had planned to have friends over for dinner and it had been so very nice that I thought eating on the patio would be a great idea.  It was a great idea but the weather turned to down right hot.  I had to laugh because the last time I had planned to eat outdoors it turned very cold; now it was hot...what a dilemma!  Problem solved:  eat later in the evening, turn on the patio fan and prepare a refreshing drink!

I found a recipe for White Wine and Sparkling Cider Sangria. It looked perfect...fruit, wine, sparkling cider.  I wanted a drink that would not be strong, just tasty and refreshing.  This hit the mark.



1 bottle dry white wine, such as Pinot Grigio
1 cup fresh orange juice
Juice of 2 limes
10 strawberries, thickly sliced
Orange and lime slices
1 1/2 cups sparkling sweet cider
Ice

In a large glass pitcher, combine the first 5 ingredients and set aside to macerate for 15 minutes.  Just before serving, add the sparkling cider.  Pour into glasses over ice.  Provide additional fruit slices for the glasses.

I chose to put the ice in the glasses instead of the pitcher as I didn't want the entire pitcher of drinks to become diluted.  It was a good choice.  Having the extra fruit for the glasses was fun, too.

Everybody liked the sangria.  We all agreed that it was refreshing and perfect for a very warm afternoon.