‘Tis the season for holiday cheer. Stave off the winter chill with a steaming hot cup of spicy mulled wine. We’ve made a more non-traditional white-based mulled wine with our Sémillon in the past and this year are returning to the classic red version.
This recipe is the perfect accompaniment to a chilly evening enjoyed with friends and a lovely celebration of festive spices of clove, cinnamon and nutmeg. Feel free to improvise with any of your favourite spices! It is a modified version of Jamie Oliver’s recipe and the one we like to use with our Merlot. Township 7’s Merlot has a unique spiciness that works wonderfully with the aromatics of this cold weather drink, ideal for après ski or warming up by the fire over the holidays.
Try a tasty version of this at our south Langley winery this weekend at our annual Christmas Charity Open House.
Serves 10
Ingredients:
2 oranges
1 Meyer lemon
1 lime
1 cup (200 g) caster sugar
6 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon
3 fresh bay leaves
1 whole nutmeg, for grating
1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways
2 star anise
2 bottles of Township 7 Merlot
Instructions:
Peel large sections of peel from your oranges, lemon and lime. Put the sugar in a large saucepan over medium heat, add pieces of peel and squeeze in juice from the oranges. Add the cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and about 10 to 12 gratings of nutmeg. Throw in the halved vanilla pod and stir in just enough red wine to cover the sugar.
Let simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved into the Merlot and then bring to a boil. Keep on a rolling boil for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until you’ve reached a beautiful thick syrup. The reason for doing this first is to create a flavour base by really getting the sugar and spices to infuse and blend well with the wine. It’s important to make the syrup base first because it needs to be quite hot, and if
you do this with both bottles of wine already added you’ll burn off the alcohol.
When your syrup is ready, turn the heat down to low and add your star anise and the rest of the wine. Gently heat the wine for roughly 5 minutes until it’s warm and delicious. Ladle it into glasses and serve, keeping on low heat as guests arrive.
