Abbott and Costello Meet the Half-dressed Wine Bottle

I akin this to Who’s on first? Third base.

With the arrival of cooler weather, red wine seems to dominate the old “liquor cabinet”.  Inevitably, the Hubs and I rarely finish an open bottle, so at any given time during the wintry months, we could have upwards of five bottles in different states of “undress” if you will.  If we were still in San Diego, we’d have some folks over, with both the inside fireplace roaring and the outside fire pit keeping up. And a huge pot on the stove would be the simmering cauldron of Mulled Wine.

Medieval Europe being a practical lot, they made a lot of wine.  Sometimes it didn’t work out, but they still had a lot of “wine” liquid “goodness”.  What to do? Mull it of course.

Below are ingredients I’ve used for years.  Sorry, no measurements because I never know how much wine I’ll have at any given time and frankly, it’s not rocket science.  The only important instruction of note:  never boil the below concoction, it will make the resultant mulled wine quite bitter.

Red wine
cane sugar (gives it a slight caramel twang)
whole cloves
nutmeg
cardamom pods
anise stars
allspice
cinnamon sticks
zest of orange and lemon
a shot of brandy or cognac for a little bite

Infuse spices, simmering for about 30 minutes.  Third base.

Godspeed!
Tina