Probably the World’s Greatest Recipe for Mulled Wine.
December 24, 2012
I wasn’t going to post this recipe for mulled wine, but then I received the following email from my mom a few days ago:
Is mulled wine best used as a room freshener? It makes the room smell gorgeous but when you taste it it tastes like medicine!!!!!!
Mom
Clearly even my own mom needs a little help making mulled wine, so here we go! The definitive recipe and method on how to make mulled wine !
The absolute best way that I’ve found to make mulled wine is to essentially make a “ tea bag” by using a coffee filter. If you add all the spices into it, and tie it with string, it will save a lot of the clean-up and also none of the gritty spices get into your drink. The only other way around making a tea bag is to strain it through a sieve, but ain’t nobody got time fo’ dat!
What I like most about mulled wine is that you can change-up the recipe anyway you like and call it your own….but I take that stance with ANY recipe! It’s also a GREAT way to run down some of the spices that you find yourself hardly using throughout the year!
Probably the World’s Greatest Recipe for Mulled Wine!
INGREDIENTS
– 1 coffee filter
– Kitchen string
– As much red wine as you need. Count on buying more than you think you’ll drink. Mulled wine has a tendency to go down extremely smoothly! This recipe is based on one bottle, and I recommend a hearty full-bodied Zinfandel, Cabernet or Merlot…obviously it has to be El Cheapo!
– 1 heaped teaspoon ground cinnamon
– 1 heaped teaspoon ground nutmeg
– 1 heaped teaspoon ground cloves
– 1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
– 6 star anise
– 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
– 1 orange, thinly sliced
– 1 red apple, thinly sliced
– 3 tablespoons sugar, plus more to taste.
– Cinnamon sticks for garnish (optional
METHOD
1. Heat up the wine (don’t boil) in a large pan, or crock pot, until just a little steam is coming off the top.
2. Add all the spices into the middle of the coffee filter and tie tightly with the string (as shown in the picture).
3. Add the spice teabag, fruit, vanilla essence and sugar. Gently stir and let sit for 15-20 minutes.
4. Taste to make sure it’s sweet enough. There’s a VERY good chance it will need to be sweetened a little more, based on your personal preference!
5. Serve using a ladle, making sure to get some of the apples and oranges in each glass. Garnish with a cinnamon stick (optional).
How to Iron…in December
December 23, 2012.
The New Wine Store on the Block: W90+
December 23, 2012
Click here for the W90+ website.
With the official opening of its doors in the second week of November, W90+ wine shop hopes to elevate the wine-buying experience for local residents. Located at 3548 Saint Johns Avenue in the heart of Avondale, the store will be the first in Jacksonville to feature wines rated 90 points or above by “globally reputable sources” such as Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, the Wine Spectator, and Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar.
“We want to give customers confidence that they’re getting a high-quality wine from the moment they walk in the store,” says Elias Mahfuz, co-owner of W90+.
With over 30 years of wine industry experience, Purchasing Director Richard Park will be responsible for buying and maintaining the store’s selection as well as day-to-day store sales and management. The store will feature wines from several regions as well as wines from smaller vineyards and up and coming producers. Most wines will be priced under $30.
Additionally, W90+ will be the only area store to feature an Enomatic wine dispenser, allowing customers to sample up to 8 different wines in 1 oz, 2 oz and 3.5 oz pours. A hand-selected variety of gourmet cheeses, dried meats, crackers and fresh bread from the popular French Pantry on Powers Avenue will also be available for purchase. W90+ will also offer tastings of selected wines and frequent discounts.
W90+ also state that they plan to open additional locations soon in the Jacksonville area.
Hours Of Operation
Mon: 12:00pm – 7:30pm
Tue – Thu : 10:30am – 7:30pm
Fri – Sat: 10:30am – 8:30pm
Sun: 11:30am – 3:30pm
3548 St Johns Ave
Jacksonville, FL 32205
Ph: 904-413-0025
Domaine Juliette Avril, Cotes du Ventoux, France.
December 20, 2012
Grapes
Grenache, Syrah, Carignan
Facts
- If you’re looking to slowly step into France, but aren’t sure where to start, wines from Ventoux might be right up your alley! I speak to a great number of people who tell me that when they buy red wine from France, it’s always so earthy, tannic and dry.
The bonus with wines from Ventoux is they tend to skew a little more juicy/jammy, certainly more than their neighboring Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape regions, which can sometimes be so heavy that they rip out your palate and leave it for dead.
- The roots of the Avrils (the winemaking family behind Domaine Juliette Avril) run deep in the Rhone. They happen to be one of the oldest families in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape region. Their ancestry dates back to 1756 and were some of the first founders of the original AOC (Appellations d’Origine Contrôlée) regulations in France, the rules by which all the major French wine regions are governed by.
I feel great envy anytime I read something like this. I’ve done a little of my own research into my family history…and you know what I came up with? Bugger all! Seriously. Nothing! Us Chisletts don’t have nothing cool to our name! I’m working on it though… :)
- The Juliette Avril estate is a family-owned property consisting of 30 hectares of vineyard land. 22 of these hectares are located in Châteauneuf du Pape, 6 hectares are in Ventoux and 2 hectares in Vin de Pays de Vaucluse.
- Grenache, Syrah and Carignan are traditionally the blend of grapes used for the wines of Cotes du Ventoux. The maximum permitted amount of Carignan is set at 30% of the blend, by the rules of the AOC. Why is that? Well, I honestly have no idea. I can’t know ALL the answers!!!
- In 1988, Marie Lucile Brun took over the management of the winery from her mother, Juliette Avril.
Premiere Napa Valley Wine Auction
December 20, 2012
I don’t know what your plans are for this coming February, but there’s a pretty-awesome event happening in Napa that I thought I’d fill you in on….you know….in case you’re just so happening to be in the area!
The Premiere Napa Valley Auction is a wine auction like I haven’t seen before, probably because these types of events don’t happen that often. Essentially 200 of the best winemakers in “The Valley” have each agreed to make a limited number of cases (5 to be exact) of never-before seen wines. The wines are all one-of-a-kind and will never be sold outside of this event.
The event seems like a great opportunity for some of the winemakers to experiment a little, since a great number of the participating wineries are making wines from grapes they don’t normally sell as stand-alone wines, and you even have some wineries making a white when they usually only make reds.
The event runs from Thursday February 21st through to Saturday February 23rd and you can visit www.premierenapawines.com for more information.
For a deeper insight into the Premiere Napa Valley Auction, take a look at the slide show embedded below.
No Chateau d’Yquem For You!
December 19, 2012
Chateau d’Yquem the world’s most famous and expensive dessert wine will not be made this year, due to heavy rains preventing the grapes from reaching their necessary sugar levels.
The unfortunate weather is expected to cost the winery “tens of millions of euros” in lost sales.
This isn’t the first time Chateau D’Yquem has had to skip a vintage. Similar decisions were also made in ‘’52, ‘72 and ‘92. “It is as if there was a curse on us every 20 years,” said Pierre Lurton, who runs the D’Yquem estate.
Technology has come a long was since the very first vintage of Chateau D’Yquem, but Sauternes producers in the southwestern region of Bordeaux are mainly at the mercy of the weather each new vintage. What makes the wines of Sauternes so special is all due to a tiny fungus named botrytis.
How can a fungus be so special, you ask?
Well, after the grapes have been left on the vine to “do their thing” (i.e. ripen), in Sauternes they’re left a little longer on the vine than regular table wine grapes. It’s from that point that everyone has their fingers and toes crossed, as the onset of botrytis takes some very specific weather conditions. A perfect combination of morning fogs to add dew to the grapes, combined with warm and sunny daytime temperatures to dry the grapes, is required for “noble rot” to set in. This process must then be repeated daily for as long as is necessary.
– If it’s too cloudy (without sunlight to dry the humidity in the vineyard) or if there’s too much rain (as we have in this case), the botrytis will turn to rot and therefore: “NO SAUTERNES FOR YOU!!!”
– On the other hand, if the weather is too hot and dry, there will be no fungal development of botrytis, and once again: “NO SAUTERNES FOR YOU!!!”
Click here for the full article from France24.
My Thoughts…
I wonder if they have insurance for that kind-of thing?
This just goes to illustrate how difficult/expensive it is to make botrytised dessert wines! Sometimes sh*t happens! We occasionally need “skipped vintages” to remind us the work that goes into some of these wines and how precious they are….not that I’m drinking D’Yquem every day, mind you!
Posted in News | Tagged Bordeaux, botrytis, Chateau D'Yquem, France, Sauternes, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon | Leave a comment //← Older posts Newer posts →
