Sangria Style Margaritas

Is it a Margarita or is it Sangria? 

We had a customer pull up to the shop the other day to get his car “Pettyized.”  He had driven up from Florida just to get this work done and brought with him a case of his homemade wine to leave with us to show his appreciation for what we do (and who we work for).  Of course as soon as he pulled away from the garage, one of the guys came to the office and asked if I knew there was wine up for grabs in the break room.

I try so hard to not be a wine snob, but sometimes it is difficult.  So these were homemade wines AND they were fruit wines. I am not a big fan of fruit wines.   Thankfully I had been reading a lot about Sangria in recent weeks.   Otherwise I probably would have turned down the opportunity to sample these wines.  I actually grabbed three different wines: Banana Pineapple Viognier 2011, Seville Orange Sangria 2011 and Twisted Mist Lime Margarita  (yes, Margarita wine!).  I love, love, love a good Margarita so this wine peaked my interest!!!!!  Like any person who is minimally computer literate, I Googled Twisted Mist Lime Margarita and found the website.   Not only do they sell you the kit to make your own wine, they actually include professional labels so that your bottle looks like it came straight from a winery.  (If you make your own wine or are interested in doing so, you should definitely check it out!)

Yep, you guessed it, the first wine I tried was the Lime Margarita.  I only put a one ounce tasting in my glass so I could test it first.  Well, I was disappointed.  From what I had read on their website, I thought this was actually going to taste like a Margarita.  But no – it was just way too sweet and I couldn’t really tell there was any lime in it even though it looked like a Margarita.  I was so disappointed!!!!  I started to cap the wine with a Haley’s Corker, but just kep thinking there had to be a way to improve this wine by using a recipe for Sangria.  I looked at some recipes I had and decided I could do better.  So this is what I came up with (and even if it is my own recipe, OMG – it was delicious!!!!)

 

Ingredients:  

Lime Margarita Wine – 750 ML

12 OZ Can Lime Ade

¾ Can Tequila

½ Can Triple Sec

Thinly Sliced Lime

½ Cup Frozen, Sweetened Strawberries (or fresh sweetened Strawberries if you have them)

Stir all together and drink up!  (This was so delicious!  If you ever get a chance to try it, don’t pass it up!  I just need to find a way to get more of this Lime Margarita Wine!  If it happens to be a little to strong for you, dilute it with Seltzer Water.  And if you don’t have any Lime Margarita Wine, substitute Corona Beer – 2 bottles. ) 

If you are interested in making a real Sangria with the homemade Seville Orange wine I picked up, you can find great recipes here:  Norps Forks and Corks