Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Heavy-bottomed saucepan
• •Vegetable peeler
• •Ladle
• •Heatproof glasses or small mugs

Instructions

1. 1

   Start with the syrup

   Pare the peel from the orange and lemon in wide strips, avoiding the bitter white pith underneath. Put the peels into a heavy-bottomed saucepan with the honey, the cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, bay leaf, ginger and a generous grating of nutmeg. Pour in just enough of the wine to cover everything, maybe a large glassful.

   This is the bit that matters most. Reducing the aromatics in a small amount of wine with the honey draws the spice and citrus into a proper syrup before the rest of the wine goes in. Skip it and you'll have warm wine with bits floating in it. Do it, and you'll have mulled wine.
2. 2

   Make the spiced base

   Bring the pan to a gentle simmer over a medium heat. Let it bubble quietly for about five minutes, until the honey has dissolved and the kitchen starts to smell like Christmas whether you're ready or not. Don't let it boil hard. You're not cooking it off, you're coaxing the spices open.

3. 3

   Add the rest of the wine

   Pour in the remaining wine along with the juice of the orange. Keep the heat low. The goal is to warm it through, never to simmer it properly. You want a few thin wisps of movement at the surface and nothing more. Boiling red wine turns sour and tired and you can't bring it back.

   Trust your nose. It knows before you do. When the whole kitchen smells of orange and clove and something Christmassy, it's ready.
4. 4

   Warm and steep

   Let the wine sit on the lowest possible heat for fifteen to twenty minutes, so the spices have time to give everything they've got. Taste it. If it needs more honey, add more. If it's too sweet, squeeze in a bit more lemon. This is where a recipe stops being a recipe and becomes whatever suits the people you're making it for.

5. 5

   Finish and serve

   If you're using brandy or port, stir it in right at the end, off the heat, so the alcohol stays honest. Ladle into heatproof glasses or small mugs, making sure each one gets a piece of peel or a star anise, for the look of the thing. Hand them round as people come in from the cold, preferably still in their coats.

Chef Tips

• •The wine matters, but not in the way people think. You don't need anything expensive, but you do need something drinkable. A soft, fruity red (a Merlot, a Grenache, a cheap and cheerful Côtes du Rhône) is what you want. Anything tannic or oaky turns harsh when warmed. If you wouldn't pour a glass of it on a Tuesday night, don't put it in the pan.
• •Never let it boil. This is the only real rule. Boiling wine drives off the alcohol and sours the fruit, and you can't fix it. Keep the heat low, let it steam gently, and you'll be rewarded.
• •Use unwaxed citrus if you can find it. The peel is doing real work here and you don't want the waxy coating or whatever the supermarket sprays on the standard oranges. A quick scrub under hot water helps if unwaxed isn't an option.
• •If there's any left over, strain it into a jar and keep it in the fridge. Reheat gently in a small pan the next evening. It's quietly splendid the second day, once all the spice has had more time to settle.

Advance Preparation

• •The spice syrup in step one can be made a few hours ahead and left in the pan. When guests arrive, pour in the rest of the wine and warm it through. This is the civilised way to do it.
• •Leftover mulled wine keeps in a sealed jar in the fridge for up to three days. Reheat gently, never boiling, and it will be every bit as good.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 140g)