What To Know When Making Sangria Ahead Of Time

Summer is the perfect time to indulge in a glass — or two or three — of freshly made sangria. Sangria — which typically consists of a mix of wine, fruit juice, liqueurs, sparkling water, and fresh fruit — makes for a delicious boozy refreshment at an outdoor barbecue or any summertime get-together. If you like this idea and want to serve sangria at your next party, you may have one question: Can you make the sangria ahead of time? To find out, Tasting Table spoke with Adam Cass, the sommelier at Aba Miami.

According to Cass, the answer is yes — but with one important caveat. Cass says, "If you are planning to pre-batch the Sangria avoid adding the fruit until about to serve." All in all, Cass says that sangria — when stored correctly, ideally in an airtight container — will last for about three days in the fridge. However, it's important to be careful when you add the fruit to the sangria. As Cass explains, if the fruit is added too soon, it can negatively impact the drink and take away from its light and fresh taste.

It's important to find the exact right time to add the fruit, which is such a key ingredient, to sangria. There actually is some benefit to adding fruit a little bit ahead of time so that the flavors of the fruit have time to infuse into the rest of the drink. The recipe developer of Tasting Table's floral white sangria, Jennine Bryant, recommends this. However, there is a fine line because, as Cass notes, the fruit will deteriorate after some time. As a happy medium, add the fruit about 30 minutes before serving so the flavors have time to meld together, but the fruit is still fresh.

Additionally, sangrias frequently contain either sparkling water or club soda to make for a sparkling drink. If you're going to include a carbonated element to your sangria, then you'll want to wait until just before it's time to serve the sangria to add this component so that it doesn't go flat beforehand. Otherwise, feel free to mix together all of the other ingredients — wine, juices, liqueurs, and so on — a day or two before you plan on serving the sangria.

If you need sangria recipes to try, check out Tasting Table's refreshing red sangria or our rosé sangria. Or, try one made specifically for summertime: Our summery watermelon sangria.