Heating it up with some mulled wine

One of the best things about Christmas and New Year’s, other than of course the good cheer and the Grinch, is the tons of good food and cocktails you get to indulge in. Now I’m not a wine connoisseur, so drinking sangria and Lambrusco makes me most pleased, and in winter I just love mulled wine simply because you can drink glassfuls of it while freezing away in the Delhi winter at least, and it feels like you’re having a warm toddy.

Delicious, full of Christmasy flavours and packing a punch while keeping you nice and warm, my vote for best drink for winter always goes to mulled wine. So here’s my version of mulled wine.

MULLED WINE

 One bottle of Merlot or Shiraz, I sometimes use the Sula Satori if push comes to shove
 250 ml of brandy. If you don’t have brandy you can use dark or white rum
 200 gms of brown sugar – depends on how sweet the wine you’re using is
 A handful of cloves and cinnamon sticks, star anise and 2 bay leaves
 500 mls of orange juice – I use it to dilute the alcohol slightly
 Peeled and chopped oranges – 2

And this is how you do it:

 Take a pan. Heat it. Turn the flame to low.
 Pour in the wine. Then the brandy. Stir in the sugar till it dissolves into the wine.
 Add the spices and leaves. Keep simmering.
 Add the orange juice to taste. See how strong you want the mulled wine and add as much as you want.
 Then add the oranges, cover the pan and let the liquid simmer for at least five minutes more. At no point should you turn the flame up, because the alcohol will evaporate and you’ll be left with just red spiced grape and orange juice.

And that's it. Make sure to serve the mulled wine warm, if not hot.



Enjoy!