A Very Merry White Christmas Sangria

My hubby and I are usually the ones who bring the drinks to our holiday get togethers with his side of the family. This year we were having a hard time coming up with new drinks to bring. We wanted something different than our usual cider drinks. Then we stumbled upon a recipe for White Christmas Sangria and had to make it. 

The ingredient list consisted of Chardonnay, White Grape Juice, Club Soda, Sugar, Fresh Rosemary, Cranberries, Granny Smith Apples, and Braeburn Apples. My mom had just given us this Rosemary tree so we thought it would be the perfect source for fresh Rosemary. The tree smells amazing and fresh. I would love to find a scented oil warmer that smells like Rosemary. 

We started out by chopping the apples. We have a Calphalon Easy Grip Apple Slicer that we always use. This thing is truly amazing. Without this awesome little tool I would never eat apples. For some reason I hate eating them right off the core. I like it a lot better when they are sliced in easy bite size pieces. Once they were sliced we chopped them into smaller pieces and dumped them straight into the bottom of the pitcher. 

Next we added the sugar and the cranberries. I used regular sugar, but you could also try Stevia or Sugar in the Raw. I only have individual packets of Sugar in the Raw so I didn't want to have to open enough of those packets to equal 1/2 cup of Sugar so I used my regular stuff. 

After I had added all the fruit and sugar I poured in the whole box of Chardonnay and dropped in the sprigs of Rosemary. Now that everything was in there together and stirred to mix I placed it in my fridge to cool and let all the flavors infuse together. 

Now for the special ingredient, the Rosemary. This ingredient seriously is the make or break for this recipe in my opinion. You start off by rinsing the Rosemary and wetting it to help the sugar to stick. After you dampen the Rosemary place it over a pan to avoid mess and sprinkle sugar all over. You want to coat the Rosemary in sugar so that it looks like it has been "snowed" on, aka why this is called a White Christmas Sangria. I made enough garnish sprigs of Rosemary so we would have two per glass of wine for each person. The smell of the Rosemary mixed with the flavors makes it the perfect Christmas drink. 

White Christmas Rosemary Sangria

Yield: 16-20 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes + 1 hour to chill

Ingredients

• 2 Granny Smith Apple
• 2 Braeburn Apple
• 1 bag (12 oz) Fresh Cranberries
• 5 large Rosemary Sprigs (more, for garnish)
• 5 liters Chardonnay
• 1 Cup White Grape Juice
• 1/2 Cup Sugar (more, for garnish)
• 1 quart Club Soda

Instructions

1. Start by chopping up the apples, I prefer them in small cubes.
2. In a large pitcher, combine all of the ingredients.
3. Mix it well, so that the sugar fully dissolves.
4. Place the pitcher in the refrigerator to chill. During this time the sugar will fully dissolve and the rosemary will infuse your sangria. 
5. While that chills, you can make the garnish for this drink. To do this, measure out 1/2 cup of granulated sugar. Lightly wet the rosemary and then give it a good shake to remove any excess water. Then lightly shake the sugar over the Rosemary sprigs until they are coated as you please. 
6. Once the pitcher has chilled for about an hour, it should be ready to serve.
7. Enjoy!