Today is National Sangria Day. And in case you’re wondering who came up with this holiday, it’s a pretty safe bet that it was an organization with a financial stake in you drinking sangrias. That’s just the way of the world, amigo. The history of this wine punch is murky, but it most likely came to life in Portugal or Spain hundreds of years ago then spread from there. It became popular in America after it was featured by the representatives of Spain at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. Recommended drink: Well, we’re kinda stuck with a Sangria. Here’s Ernest Hemingway’s version: In a pitcher combine a bottle of a full-bodied red wine with 3/4 cup of sparkling water and the juice of a lemon, drop in a sliced orange, then add ice and stir. If you find the drink a bit, well, weak, it’s perfectly within the bounds of sangriac tradition to lay in some brandy to stiffen it up.
