The time is ripe for the sweetest peaches of the year, and Metropolitan Market is celebrating its 20th year of its Peach-O-Rama promotion. The Seattle-based small group of high-end grocery stores started searching for chin-dribbling peaches in the early 1990s, after finding that most markets stocked hard, dry, unripe peaches. The group succeeded in the quest, and now the stores have both organic and conventional versions of our favorite summer treat.
Although the peaches are best eaten straight up, we want to bake them into peach crisps, grill them and top them with ice cream, and drink them with a favorite Northwest wine.
Met Market’s Wine Specialist, Mark Takagi, created a recipe for Savory White Sangria using Peach-O-Rama peaches and accents of ginger and lime. While his recipe calls for Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur, we recommend substituting Brovo Spirits’ Brovo + G ginger liqueur. Or, substitute with cider, like 2 Towns Cider House Ginga Ninja, for a lovely, dry and savory option since these peaches are packing mega-watt sweetness.
Takagi recommends using Chateau Ste Michelle’s Riesling for the recipe. “The price can’t be beat for the quality of this wine,” he says. “There’s plenty of RS [residual sugar] in it, so there’s no need to add a bunch of sugar to make your sangria, as most people do.”
He chose a savory sangria to share, as he prefers to drink on the drier side and finds this as refreshing as it is sessionable. Plus, with Washington Wine Month coming up in August, it’s just one more excuse to drink local.
Savory White Sangria with Peach-O-Rama Peaches, Ginger & Lime
Serves 15
1 750ml bottle of Riesling
1 750ml bottle of sparkling wine
1 750ml bottle seltzer water, plain, lemon or lime
1/2 cup ginger liqueur
2 fresh peaches, sliced
1 large lemon, thinly sliced
1 handful fresh basil leaves or mint, pressed to release oils
1 teaspoon ginger root, freshly grated.
Add all ingredients together in a pitcher or bowl, refrigerate and chill for 2 hours. Serve in a large pitcher filled with ice, pour in tumblers or wine glasses.
