Warmer weather and sangria

Now that spring's finally here, strawberries are back in season with a bang. I took advantage of the grocery store's strawberry sale and bought two pounds.
Meanwhile, Paul and I have been gearing up for our Europe trip by trying different wines about three or four times a week. This usually results in a half-drunk bottle of wine sitting in the refrigerator, asking for some attention. What to do with all this fruit and wine? Make sangria, of course!

Sangria's I've had range from the cloyingly sweet to the delightfully fruity to the dryer than a martini. I tend to prefer red wine sangrias over white wine sangrias because of their body, but the last time I tried making one, I used a white zinfandel. I figured that fruity rose wine would lend itself well to a sangria, and I was not disappointed this time.

My basic sangria recipe:

1 bottle wine
1 cup sugar
2 cups water
2 oranges, sliced
1 lb strawberries, sliced
2 apples, sliced
fizzy water or soda, if needed
Large pitcher

Wash all the fruit thoroughly. Remove bruised or mushy parts. Boil 2 cups water in a 2-quart saucepan. Add sugar and stir until clear. Add sliced fruit and simmer for 2-5 minutes, until fragrant. Let cool. Empty bottle of wine into a pitcher and add fruit mixture. Stir thoroughly. Chill until cold. Serve over ice cubes with a sprig of mint and a splash of fizzy water or soda.

I haven't tried many variations yet. Some ideas I have are to add some mint or cinnamon to the sugar syrup step, use rose water, halve the sugar syrup amount and replace it with fizzy water or soda, and try steeping the fruit in the wine without sugar syrup.