Have you ever bought a bottle of red wine that despite all the great reviews, the hype, the beautiful label, the wonderful terroir and the delightful descriptions etched painstakingly into the back of the bottle, it just tasted like old socks and your garbage bin on a hot day? Sometimes we even receive these little gems as gifts in our stockings. Well, rather than throwing that expensive bottle away why not turn it into something usefulโฆmulled wine. With the holidays approaching there is nothing quite like the smell of delicious spiced mulled wine simmering away on the kitchen stove. I am yet to find a bad red wine that hasnโt been magically transformed by this simple process. (Actually, good red wine works just as well, but what a waste!) Here is what you need:
2 bottles of bad red wine (1 is ok just halve the rest of the ingredients)
1 cup sugar
Zest from one orange and one lemon
Juice from the one orange and the one lemon
6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 whole nutmeg
1 star anise
1 vanilla pod
Method:
Simply add spices, sugar and enough wine to cover them into a pot. Boil the concoction for about 5 mins until the mixture thickens and the sugar is dissolved. Then add the remainder of the wine and simmer. If you still want the alcohol then serve after about 5 mins, if you want the non-alcholic version then give it about 30 mins. Pour through a strainer and enjoy