Sangria. In a French monastery. With Chinese-Canadians.

Sangria — a wonderful Spanish trick (among others) for making bad to decent wine palatable, and even, really damn good. Take fruit, soak overnight in rum/brandy/your-favourite-hard-liquor, add copious amounts of red wine, serve on a balcony/patio in summer. Made poorly, you’ve got a weird fruit juice-y thing that’s still quite drinkable, made well, you’ve got a potent delicious substance that’ll keep you going back for more, even though you know how quickly it’ll knock you off your feet, because you know how much alcohol is in that innocent-looking pitcher. Recipes and a story, after the jump!