Wine isn’t always at its best when consumed straight from the bottle. Especially during colder months, why not spice things up with something a bit warmer?
To accompany a story in our latest holiday issue, we got our hands on drastically different mulled wine recipes from two Manhattan chefs. The first recipe is for Alymeth, a Bishop from Co-owner and Head Bartender Jack McGarry at The Dead Rabbit. McGarry draws from an 1892 American recipe book, William Schmidt’s The Flowing Bowl.
The second is for Glühwein, a traditional Austrian spiced wine by Chef Kurt Gutenbrunner of Blaue Gans and Café Sabarsky. With rich spices and a little bit of heat, this recipe is perfect for the cooler weather.
Alymeth
From William Schmidt’s The Flowing Bowl, updated by Jack McGarry
Ingredients:
1 bottle Burgundy wine
60 mg caster sugar
Oleo-saccharum of 2 oranges*
2 oz fresh orange juice
½ oz fresh lemon juice
Prepare separately:
3 bay leaves
1 tsp coriander
4 cardamom pods
1 tsp of anise
1 tsp of mace pulverised in a pestle and mortar
Nutmeg (to garnish)
Orange oils (to garnish)
Preparation:
Mix wine, sugar and citrus. Add spices to the wine and citrus mixture and bring to a boil. Serve hot, garnished with freshly grated nutmeg and orange oils.
* To prepare oleo-saccharum, put the zest of two oranges (with as little pith as possible) and 6 oz fine sugar in a bowl, muddle and let sit for 15-20 minutes. Finish by adding the juice from the two oranges.
Glühwein
By chef Kurt Gutenbrunner, Café Sabarksy & Blaue Gans
Ingredients:
1 bottle of Zweigelt wine
1 orange (sliced in half with rind)
1 whole vanilla bean
Zest of 1 lime
Splash of port wine
1 cinnamon stick
Spices, 1 tsp of each: juniper berries, allspice, star anise, pink peppercorns
Honey, approximately 5 tbsp
Preparation:
Combine all ingredients in large pot and simmer for 30 minutes. Before serving, add honey until desired sweetness is reached (approximately 5 tbsp for the whole pot).
