cherry pomegranate sangria

cherries + pomegranate + red wine + vanilla

“Is there any of that sangria left?”

While recipe testing, having someone request more of what you’ve made instantly takes a little pressure off your shoulders. Bonus points if you haven’t officially told anyone it’s a recipe test yet 🙂 Extra bonus points if more than one person says it!

This sangria earned me ALL the extra bonus points. Even people who I didn’t peg as sangria-lovers asked if there were more left.

When I thought about this flavor combination and what to do with it, I’ll admit that sangria was the first thing the popped into my head. I have found that usually I reject that first idea. Not sure if it’s a “came too easily” sort of mentality and I want a challenge? However, in thinking through this idea as a sangria, I just knew I had to try it.

this recipe

I have no regrets. In fact, I will be making this all summer! The deep red fruit flavors of cherries and pomegranates are a great complement to each other. Both have a more earthy fruit flavor, with a slightly higher acidic profile compared to other fruits like strawberries. Malic acid is present in both of these fruits, which is the acid that gives that little bit of lingering tartness, similar to what we get from a tart green apple.

Additionally, both of these fruits are richer in polyphenols than a lot of other fruits! If you aren’t familiar with these powerhouse anti-oxidant compounds, you absolutely should look into them. I’m a big fan of high-phenolic extra virgin olive oil, so while I don’t have a post with more details about them yet, I’m sure I will!

What makes this combination a match made in heaven? Let’s talk about it!

Pomegranates are naturally high in tannins, which is something that red wine also contains at higher levels (but from grapes). The combination of these two elements create a drying sensation in your mouth.

To offset the astringency created by the pomegranate and red wine, this is where the cherries and vanilla REALLY shine! The relative sweetness of the cherries (combined with the sugar in the simple syrup) round out the sharper dry edges of the mixture. Additionally, the smoky flavors of the vanilla (derived from the compound vanillin) mimic the oak-aging compounds found in red wine, which just pulls it all together beautifully.

I chose to use vanilla bean paste in this recipe instead of vanilla extract. I absolutely love vanilla bean paste and seeing those vanilla flecks! However, if you don’t have vanilla bean paste, you can absolutely substitute for vanilla extract. To maximize the vanilla flavor, stir in the extract at the end of cooking the simple syrup. Add vanilla extract at the beginning of cooking gives it more time to evaporate out.

Ok so now that I’ve talked about WHY this works, let’s talk about how easy it is to make. This recipe has three basic components:

• Pomegranate Juice
• Red Wine – Merlot, Apothic Red or a similar fruity red blend will work beautifully in this
• Cherry Vanilla simple syrup

The cherry simple syrup is fresh cherries, water, sugar and vanilla bean paste. Honestly, the most time consuming part of this is having to pit the cherries and slice them in half. I feel spoiled because I married a man whose mom worked for Pampered Chef at one point and we have the pitter that does 4 cherries at once. 🙂 This was a serious upgrade over my single cherry pitter. Does anyone have a hack for pitting cherries faster?? Tell me in the comments!

Anyways…….back to the simple syrup. You’ll add the pitted and halved cherries to a pot along with sugar, water and vanilla bean paste. Bring it to a boil and cook until the sugar is dissolved. That’s it. Give it 10 minutes to cool before either putting in the fridge or starting to assemble the sangria. The sangria will have to hang out in the fridge for a little bit before serving so you can either make this syrup in advance or right before you put the sangria together.

cherries + pomegranate + red wine + vanilla

Now it’s your turn! What would you make with this flavor combination? Tell me in the comments!

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Looking for other ingredients that use cherries, pomegranate, red wine or vanilla? Check out my other recipes below!