Bottled Surprise

If you were to ride a time machine and go back to the 14th century, your evening celebration is most likely to be a candle-lit dinner, brightened up with a glass of mulled wine. While the drink dates back to Roman antiquity, it wasn’t until the 14th century that this mix of wine, fruit and spices gained its name, from an old English word meaning ‘muddled’. And then, many a novelist featured the drink in their books. But the credit of elevating mulled wine to a traditional holiday drink goes solely to Charles Dickens and his popular novella, A Christmas Carol, sealing its place for good in Christmas culinary history. All mulled wine recipes begin with dry red wine. A fruity Zinfandel or Syrah make for good choices. The red wine is then fused with citrus fruits and traditional festive spices like cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg. Some recipes also use sugar or honey for a sweeter taste.

Devender Sehgal, head bartender at Ellipses, Mumbai, agrees. “Mulled wine is like traditional Christmas in a glass and it’s simple to make. It’s a lovely celebration of traditional festive spices like cinnamon and clove. Gently warmed mulled wine keeps the guests asking for more on a Christmas evening and makes for a great personalised gift.” Sehgal shares his coveted recipe for mulled wine: Ingredients 750 ml bottle of red wine 1 cup sugar 125 ml water 4-5 star anise 3-5 raisins 3-4 cloves 5-6 cinnamon sticks Honey (optional)

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2 oranges, thinly sliced 1 lemon, thinly sliced Orange peel for garnishing Method 1.Place the wine, sugar, water, raisins, orange, lemon, cinnamon, and cloves in a large pan over low heat.

2.Stir occasionally, for 5-10 minutes, or until sugar dissolves and the mix becomes aromatic. 3.Remove from heat. Strain mulled wine into a large jug. 4.Pour in a bottle, drop in a small piece of orange peel, and it’s ready to gift. 5.If you plan to serve it to your guests, pour into serving glasses.

6.Decorate with orange peel and serve immediately.

A warm addition: Kamble, director of Flair Mania Bartending Academy, who was announced as the best mixologist in India at Angostura bitter cocktail championship India, suggests infusing brandy for a delicate warm touch to your drink, transforming mulled wine into an apt beverage for a cozy winter evening indoors.

“Mulled wines are wines that have been spiced, sweetened and slightly heated, offering a delightful alternative to traditional coffee and tea at holiday gatherings on a cold winter’s night. A perfect drink for winters and a gift that almost everyone would cherish,”

Pack it Gift your mulled wine, packaged in colourful corked bottles. You can also choose to get fancy bottles custom-painted by quirky art shops like Poppudum Art (www.facebook.com/ PoppadumArt) or pick a piece of art from a quirky furnishing store, such as BLISS, Mumbai, (they take online orders at www.facebook.com/ Xperience.BLISS). Just tie a ribbon around your arty bottle and your gift is ready to fly. A ‘mull-it-yourself’ kit The Charles Dickens Pub in Worthing, England, serves their mulled wine by the glass. Six ounces of a rich, fruity Spanish red wine and one ounce of berry cordial are poured over an orange slice, cinnamon stick and two cloves placed in a heat-proof glass. The pub warms the wine in a microwave before it reaches your table and woos you. Take a leaf out of their book. To make your gift awesomely authentic, pack each of these ingredients in a hamper along with a luxe bottle of Spanish wine or a prized Ice Wine. Alternately, you can pack in your bottle of dry red wine with a box of beverage blends. You can find a variety at Godrej Nature’s Basket or order it online from spicehunter.com and store.martinellis.com. Throw in a batch of Lebkuchen, the German ginger biscuits, that work so well with mulled wine, and you’ve got your perfect Christmas hamper!