The Ultimate Holiday Sangria is filled with citrus, pomegranate, pear and cinnamon for one irresistible cocktail! Find out my secret method to making the BEST sangria recipe! You’ll be the star of the holiday party with this easy cocktail recipe!
If Sangria is your jam then you’ll love my Festive Holiday Cranberry Sangria and my Citrus White Wine Sangria!

The Ultimate Holiday Sangria
No holiday is complete without a delicious Sangria Recipe, in my humble opinion. I made this recipe last year for a Women’s Christmas Event and y’all, I literally tripled the recipe and it was gone in 30 minutes! No joke! I had to improvise to make this baby stretch. So needless to say, everyone will love it!
With the holidays just around the corner and lots of fun parties to attend I thought I’d give you a recipe you can be proud of so let’s say cheers, clink our glasses and get started!
What is Sangria?
Sangria is an alcoholic wine drink that is originally from Spain. It is traditionally made with red wine, chopped up fruits, fresh citrus and brandy or sometimes orange juice. Some versions are made with sparkling water, ginger ale and/or sweeteners.
Items you’ll need to make this Holiday Sangria:
- Red Wine: use a dry red wine, like a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or Tempranillo. You don’t need to splurge because this wine will be infused with other flavors.
- Brandy: This is the most common liquor added to Sangria.
- Grand Marnier: I like to add grand marnier, it’s a combination of brandy and triple sec which gives it an orange flavor. Perfect for sangria.
- Agave: Adds a little bit of sweetness to the sangria, can be omitted if you like.
- Fresh Chopped Fruit: Typically you will see oranges and limes in sangria, in this recipe I used oranges, limes, fresh pear and pomegranate seeds for a holiday twist.
- Cinnamon Sticks: What’s a holiday sangria without a little cinnamon, these cinnamon sticks will give the sangria a spiced tummy warming flavor that everyone will love.
- Ginger Ale or Sparkling Water: A little bit of effervescence never hurt any one. The addition of ginger ale or sparkling water will give your sangria that edge on all the rest to make it stand out! Make sure you add this right before serving, not overnight!
What type of wine is used to make Sangria?
Cabernet Sauvignon is the bigger better wine to use with Sangria. It has notes of blackcurrent, blackberry and sometimes cocoa or coffee. If you light a lighter more fruit forward sangria I’d use Pinot Noir. Or if you really want to go for it and change it up you could use Rosé or a Sauvignon Blanc.
MUST-HAVES FOR YOUR BAR
How to make Holiday Sangria?
- To a large pitcher add agave nectar, Grand Marnier, Brandy, orange slices, lime slices, pear slices, pomegranate seeds and cinnamon sticks.
- Next, pour one bottle of red wine into the pitcher. Stir to combine.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours. (the longer it sits the better it will taste) I highly recommend overnight for maximum flavor.
- Right before you are about to serve sangria, top it with ginger ale and give a quick stir.
- Pour over ice or serve chilled. Garnish with fresh limes and oranges.
How long do you soak fruit in Sangria?
Honestly, the longer the better. I’d say the least amount of time would be 1 to 2 hours. However, for a sangria recipe with maximum flavor I’d highly recommend soaking your fruit for 8 to 10 hours or overnight!
All the flavors get nice and cozy together when this Holiday Sangria sits overnight. You can taste all the flavors – the hint of cinnamon, the citrus, and sweetness from the pear. They truly become one! Topping it with the bubbles from ginger ale is the cherry on top!
I can’t wait to see what you guys think of this one. Honestly, it’s my best cocktail yet! Hope you enjoy! Bon Appetite my friends, or should I say Cheers!
Other Sangria Recipes you need to try:
- Strawberry Summer Sangria Recipe
- Rosé Wine with Fresh Fruit Cubes
- Frozen Raspberry Peach Sangria
- Strawberry Jalapeno White Sangria Recipe

The Ultimate Holiday Sangria
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Prep Time: 5 mins
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Cook Time: 2 hours
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Total Time: 2 hours 5 mins
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Yield: 6 servings 1x
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Category: Drinks
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Method: Fridge
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Cuisine: Spanish
Description
The Ultimate Holiday Sangria is filled with citrus, pomegranate, pear and cinnamon for one irresistible cocktail! Find out my secret method to making the BEST sangria.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons agave nectar
- 1/4 cup grand marnier
- 1/4 cup brandy
- 1 orange, halved and then sliced
- 1 lime, sliced
- 1 pear, sliced
- 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
- 2 sticks of cinnamon
- 1 bottle of dry red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon)
- 3/4 cup ginger ale
Instructions
- To a large pitcher add agave nectar, grand marnier, brandy, orange, lime, pear, pomegranate seeds, cinnamon sticks. Stir to combine.
- Pour in the entire bottle of red wine.
- Cover and place in refrigerator for 1-2 hours. (the longer it sits the better it will taste)
- Right before you are about to serve add the ginger ale to the sangria mixture.
- Pour over ice or serve chilled.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6 oz
- Calories: 278
- Sugar: 22 g
- Sodium: 13 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 33 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Keywords: best sangria recipe, winter sangria, holiday sangria, red sangria recipe, homemade sangria, how to make sangria, how to make red sangria, easy sangria
More Holiday Cocktail Recipes:
Easy White Christmas Margarita Pitcher Recipe
Harvest Apple Bourbon Cocktail in a Pitcher
Festive Holiday Pomegranate Gin Cocktail
Can you omit brandy and double the grand Marnier? Wondering if I can avoid buying a bottle of brandy or not. Thanks!
★★★★★
I would omit the brandy.
Hi. Can i omit the brandy?? I want to use just wine as the alcohol?
★★★★★
Yes, you can omit it.
This Came out SOOO good. I had to altar it a bit because of what I had on hand. I used an apple instead of pear. Turbinado syrup instead of agave and it still wasn’t sweet enough so I added the luxardo cherry syrup from the container of cherries. And I added an oz of ginger beer and an oz of sprite. So delicious!
★★★★★
So glad you enjoyed this recipe! It is my go-to all year round because you can adjust the fruit to whatever is in season!
Hi, Do you think i could pour champagne/ sparkling wine instead of the ginger beer?
This recipe calls for ginger ale, not ginger beer. I have never tried adding sparkling wine to this recipe.
How much does this recipe serve? Trying to figure out if I should double for a party of 10 people.
The recipe yields 6 servings; I always double it because it goes super fast!