Roses may be red (and violets blue!), but rosé sangria is decidedly, gorgeously pink – and makes a lovely sangria for you and your Valentine! When the calendar turned over to February, it suddenly stopped seeming “too soon” to have Valentine’s Day candy and merchandise in stores. And I knew it was time to crank out some Valentine’s Day-worthy sangria recipes.

My mind immediately went to rosé wine and berries. This was in part because, truth be told, I’d never made a rosé wine sangria. And I’m always game for a new sangria recipe challenge!

Rosé Sangria Ingredients

I let my supermarket selection help guide my choice of sangria berries. And I was fortunate in my findings. The blueberries, raspberries and strawberries all looked amazing. I grabbed a lime, too, to help cut the sweetness a bit.

Then, I headed to the wine aisle to select our star ingredient – the rosé wine. I will admit that I have a little hesitation when it comes to choosing a rosé wine. When I see a glass of pink wine, I tend to think white zinfandel, which is usually a tad sweet for my taste. But the selection of rosé wines has really blossomed in recent years. And I have been surprised by some of the newly more readily available selections.

While I usually aim for a wine in the $10 range when I’m shopping for sangria wines, when I spied the Matua 2017 Pinot Noir Rosé, I felt like it was calling to me. And it was just a couple-few bucks over what I had in mind to spend.

For spirits, I had in mind to add a little Chambord black raspberry liqueur. But I didn’t want to overdo the berry flavoring, so I thought to add a little vodka, too. I wasn’t sure what I would add for effervescence in the end, but had both club soda and ginger ale on hand, so I would have options.

Making Rosé Sangria

Since most of the rosé sangria ingredients were berries, preparing them was super easy. The blueberries (1 cup) and raspberries (a 6-oz. package) just needed rinsing. And I needed only to hull and halve 10 large strawberries and thinly slice about half of lime. All it went into the pitcher. Then I added 1/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of Chambord and 1/4 cup of vodka. Then I poured in the full (750 ml) bottle of rosé wine. After a gentle stir, it all went into the fridge to chill for a few hours, though you could chill yours as long as overnight if you have the time.

After a few hours had passed, I gave the rosé sangria a gentle stir. Since this was a brand new recipe for me, I spooned out a little to taste. The berry flavoring was amazing, but it seemed a little on the sweet side. I had to decide whether to dilute the flavor with club soda or cut the sweeetness with some spice by adding ginger ale. Because I like a little spice, I opted for the latter (2 cups). But I think either option would have worked, depending on your preference, with refreshing and delicious results.

All I needed to do next was pour over ice, garnish with mint and enjoy!