Sangria

The drink

Over ice, with an orange slice, which is how sangria actually gets drunk. It is sangria, not a fruit juice that borrowed a wine glass.

Under the orange there is red wine. Fruity, lightly spiced, the sweetness kept in check, the end clean and still spiced after the citrus drops off. Light body. Off-dry without being a punch. The ice does not wash it out, which is the practical test, because nobody is sipping this at cellar temperature and taking notes.

The spice is the pleasure. The darker fruit under it is why the shape holds. Without that wine note it would be an orange soda with ambitions. With it, the can earns the orange slice.

Red fruit under blood orange is a specific order. Warm spice sits on top and stays into the finish, gentle, never a potpourri. Sweetness is checked, which starts to matter once the ice melts. Light, off-dry, and still sangria after the orange slice has done its job. The red-wine note is quiet, and it has to be, or the orange would have nothing solid to sit on. Once the ice has melted you can still tell the spice from the fruit.