National sangria day. Celebrate with.. sangria!

Sangria is a time-honored way of making cheap, skanky wine into a delicious upscale treat. Also one of the drink trends to watch for in 2009, sangria is the honoree of its own special day tomorrow.

Why sangria, which is a sweet summer punch, would be honored in the wintertime I know not. When people say “drink sangria tomorrow” I don’t ask questions.

The traditional way to enjoy sangria is to make a homemade batch. It’sl the way to go if you keep a couple of half-full bottles of wine in your cupboard or need to unload some Yellow Tail otherwise undrinkable bottles.

While the Internet has more sangria recipes than LOLZ Cats, it’s the most fun to experiment yourself. It takes five minutes and is virtually fool-proof.

Basically, add one lemon and one orange per bottle of wine and you’re set. After that it’s just experimenting with the levels of sugar (a couple spoonfuls per bottle is average, but remember you can always add sugar but you can’t take it out) and adding a couple shots of your favorite liquor.

Brandy is the traditional liquor added to sangria but Campari is a good substitute. Really, any fruit-based liquor (or fruit) will do the trick. Even Boulevard BBQ would work. By tasting often and heavily, you’ll eventually find your own perfect custom sangria. If you don’t drink it all during tasting.

Sangria also makes the perfect compliment to Spanish food and tapas bars. La Bodega on Southwest Boulevard serves both a sangria roja and a sangria blanco for $5.75 a glass or $25 per pitcher. If you come to La Bodega during happy hour — Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. — then knock half off the prices listed above.

The other place I’ve been impressed by the sangria is Henry’s in Lawrence, which has fresh sangria every night. It’s a little light on the fruit and heavy on the sugar but that’s nitpicking. Sangria is good no matter how you make it. — Owen Morris