Here's our long-lasting Provençal favorite for waiting for Christmas and setting the mood for dark winter evenings:
Vin Chaud - hot Provençal winter wine
A bottle of Cote du Rhone red wine
Cinnamon stick
Whole cloves, 3-5
4-5 cardamom pods or 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
A dash of ginger
1-3 from Tähtianis
(Either all of these or some:)
A piece of dried orange peel
Organic orange with peel, in pieces
A splash of real fresh orange juice
Allspice
Sugar, raw cane sugar or regular, to taste
Pour the wine into the pot, throw in the spices and fruit, let it heat up on a low heat, but do not boil. Simmer on heat without boiling for 10-20 min depending on the situation and taste in between, add sugar and taste. Add sugar again and taste. It's worth tasting after the first 10 minutes.
Before serving, remove all loose spices. In France, pieces of fruit are often included even when wine is served. A matter of taste, you can remove them or leave them :)
The wine should have a wonderfully spicy glow in the mouth, with a slight aftertaste and such that sweetness is not the first thing that comes to mind when you taste the wine. Bitterness or too much acidity, on the other hand, is not the goal either. Feel free to add more sugar if you don't like the taste - it may take a surprising amount without the taste becoming sugary!
This hot spiced wine is particularly suitable for e.g. to be enjoyed with spicy and hot little pies. We have the Asian Porc Piquante samosas as a standard partner for Vin Chaud, small triangular pies filled with slightly hot and nicely spicy ground pork.
A lovely, comfortably warm and fragrant Christmas wait for everyone!
<3 Katarina