Festive White Christmas Sangria

You’ll be dreaming about this White Christmas Sangria long after the holidays have come to an end! White wine, ginger beer, pear brandy, and some festive red and green fruit are all you need for this jolly holiday cocktail.

Remember how I said I’d already put up my Christmas tree even though it’s mid-November?

I figured I might as well continue the pre-Christmas celebrating with a White Christmas Sangria.

Especially since we’re having our first gorgeous fall day down here! It’s in the 50s and my fuzzy socks are on, windows are all open, fir candles are burning.

It’s my literal heaven.

Meanwhile, up North I know you guys are dealing with your first snows and winter storms of the season. So, hey – if you’ve got the stuff in your house to whip this holiday sangria up, you definitely should!

After all, it IS Friday.

Christmas drinks aren’t just made up of eggnog and hot toddies, my friends.

Normally, I am strictly a red wine drinker. I will enjoy a glass of white wine every now and then, but mostly it’s either too sweet or too oaky for me.

The holidays are perfect for red wine in every capacity. But since my last true white sangria was posted back in 2014, I thought it was high time for another to make an appearance on the blog!

This is super simple, crisp, and totally refreshing and will be a lovely sangria to drink all winter long!

Ingredients

• A couple bottles of your favorite white wine – something dry; scroll down a bit to see more notes on this!
• Sparkling ginger beer – you can substitute sparkling apple cider if you’re not a fan of ginger
• Pear brandy – just a splash, or a little more to your taste
• Sugar – optional, depending on your tastes, but it will help alleviate the tartness of the cranberries as they infuse into the sangria. If you prefer, you can use simple syrup, agave nectar, or a natural sweetener instead.
• Fresh fruit – thinly sliced Bartlett pears, fresh cranberries (or previously frozen ones!) – a mild sweet and tart combo
• Rosemary sprigs – Pop a sprig in each glass as you serve – it’s just for looks
• Star anise – another optional addition, it just looks pretty!

What is the best wine for sangria?

In this particular Christmas sangria recipe, I used a bottle of Riesling as well as a bottle of Pinot Grigio. It’s not too sweet a blend on its own, and the flavors compliment the additions of ginger beer and brandy nicely.

Just like with liquor, you want to choose something on the more inexpensive side since you’ll be blending and infusing it. I’m not talking boxed wine – choose something you would normally drink and enjoy, but don’t break the bank.

You’ll want to choose a dry, crisp, unoaked white wine since you’ll be adding sugar and fruit. Unless, of course, you enjoy super sweet sangria! Try one or a blend of these varieties:

• Riesling (look for dry)
• Pinot Grigio
• Sauvignon Blanc
• Vinho Verde
• Sparkling Wine or Champagne

How to make white Christmas Sangria:

1. First, add the thinly sliced pears and cranberries to a large pitcher. You can stack them all fancy like as I did, adding star-shaped pear pieces, or just toss them in. Adding the fruit first keeps splashes at a minimum.
2. Then, pour the wine, ginger beer, brandy, and sugar into the pitcher and stir. If you stacked your fruit, whisk it all together in a large bowl or another pitcher, then transfer it to the pitcher with fruit.
3. If you like the taste of star anise (a bit like black licorice), add a few pods to the mixture and stir.
4. Refrigerate the sangria for 3-4 hours for best flavors.
5. When you’re ready to serve, pour the sangria into chilled glasses, making sure each one gets some of the boozy fruit. Top each glass off with more ginger beer, if desired.
6. Garnish each glass with a sprig of rosemary, an anise pod, and some frozen cranberries to keep it cold.

What to serve with Christmas sangria

• This is a great drink to serve at a party, so of course appetizers can be the costar! Try whipping up a good melty cheese like my Brown Butter Fig & Pear Baked Brie or Apple Cranberry Baked Brie. A beautiful Winter Cheese Board will look lovely next to a few pitchers of this, as well.
• If you’re serving it with dinner, a traditional Wine and Herb Roasted Turkey is an easy choice. You could also go with the other white meat – my Cranberry Pork Tenderloin.
• As for dessert, anything goes! Nana’s Anise Pierniki (Polish Christmas Cookies) are as pretty as they are delicious, or maybe Eggnog Brownies are more your style? You could also go all out with a show-stopping cake like this Triple Chocolate Cranberry Mousse Torte!

If you love this recipe, please consider leaving a 5 STAR RATING! If you really love it, leave us a comment and let us know – we appreciate all forms of feedback!

LET’S CONNECT!

Join in on the fun in our Facebook group! Feel free to share YOUR favorite recipes, ask questions, help out your fellow home cooks, and see what’s new with The Crumby Kitchen (so that you never miss a new recipe)! If you’d like to check it out, you can request to join HERE.

Also, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and tag #crumbykitchen so we can see all the wonderful recipes YOU recreate from this site!

You can also enjoy exclusive content before anyone else by subscribing to our weekly newsletter – and you’ll never miss a delicious recipe again!