Alice B. Toklas brownies notwithstanding, the breakout social lubricant of choice for entertaining in the late 1960s was arguably the refreshing fruit and red wine punch known as sangria. It had been—sort of—introduced to America at the 1964 New York City World’s Fair at the Spanish Pavilion as a way to showcase the country’s wines and soon spread across this nation, where it was all but de rigueur at any summertime patio party worth its paper lanterns.
Of course, sangria wasn’t new, it was simply enjoying its highwater mark. Red wine punches with gory names had been around for centuries. The word sangria comes from the Spanish and Portuguese for “bloodletting” and even before it became a regional favorite in Iberia there were red wine drinks in the Americas called sangarees…
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Cigar Aficionado (Digital) - 1 Issue, July/August 2022