Mulled Wine
This is a beautiful drink that can be served during the winter months to warm you up inside and great to serve for friends if they are coming to your house for Christmas dinner. When you taste a good one its hard to stop drinking it because you know you will never taste it again. Mostly all mulled wine in bars are made by the bartender to a basic recipe, but for some reason it seams to taste different each time and the fun in making it is adjusting it to taste. The recipe that follows is in my mind the best I ever tasted and was confided to me by my friend Steve House who was Managing a small bar / restaurant that had a small outside open area and during the winter his Mulled wine was perfect. He only made one and once it was gone rarely made another in the same evening. I hope you can make it as good as he did, but use this recipe and guidelines. My friend also recommends a copper pot and a muslin bag for easy removal of the cinnamon and fruit skins.
Ingredients
2x Bottles of Red wine (preferably Merlot, Cab sav, or Shiraz) Steve says most wines work well but make sure it has a good fruit content. Better from the New World like Australia and Chile
20x Cloves
2 stick Cinnamon
1 Lemon
1 Lime
1 Orange
6-8oz Sugar (white or brown is ok for your preference)
3 oz Triple sec
4 oz VSOP Cognac
4 oz Port (optional)
First thing is to prepare your fruits, push all the cloves in to the orange skin evenly then take off only the skin from the lemon and lime and make sure no pith is left on the skin, then juice the Lemon and Lime and put the juice aside. Take your Pot, put in the wine and sugar (only put half sugar first, add the rest after tasting if you need more) and start to heat up very slowly, and then take your fruit juice and add, and add the Orange with cloves, plus the Lemon and Lime skins, next brake up the cinnamon sticks and drop in. once you feel its nearly boiling bring the heat down and simmer very gently and add the spirits (half first). This is all to taste so after you stir it if you want more sugar add more, if you think its time to take out the cinnamon because its getting to bitter and woody take it out, if you might think you want to spice it up add more cognac, or even add more wine to soften it up, or a few ounces of port. What ever you decide is up to you what you think is nice for you and your guests.
This will serve 8-10 easily a glass of wine (125ml)
151 Mist Cocktail
(the only way you can enjoy 151)
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Cote de Nuits
My favourite writer for Burgundy wine is Clive Coates and his books are fabulous to read I wrote a small piece on Cote de Nuits for a blog using his book, like a mini version to put in a blog. Burgundy is my favourite region in France and I think I will never get a chance to try enough of Burgundy wine. I will try any vintage from any producer; (famous or not) it’s the best way to learn.
Burgundy, Part 1a: Cote de Nuits (Labeled as The King & Queen with their consort)
Cote de Nuits is such a small place and has some of the best pinot noir red wines produced in the world. Many will say the best in the world. Here is a brief outline on what to go for when it comes to choosing wines from the Cote de Nuits.
What’s the best commune? What’s the best wine? Well let’s stick with a few communes that you are likely to find in Hong Kong. We will start with the north to south of Cote de Nuits in the first 3 articles. Then we will move on to Cote de Beaune.
• Gevrey-Chambertin:
There are 26 Premier Crus and 9 Grand Cru’s. The wines are sumptuous, full and sturdy, rich and masculine. They can even be more flamboyant than Vosne-Romanee and more substantial than Chambolle Musigny. Choose this wine if you want to have in my mind the King style of Cote de Nuits and even Cote d’ Or. Be careful when buying villages level as the commune to the north is called Brochon and has 50 hectares that can label their wine as Gevrey-Chambertin villages and these wines can be up and down in quality so you need to know the growers, same goes for the east of the main road (RN74 that runs the length of Cote d’Or) in Gevrey-Chambertin these wines can be lighter in style. Look out for the most west of the commune and into the Premier Crus up to the slope, one in particular is called Clos St Jacques which some critics have said it deserves Grand Cru status.
• Morey-Saint-Denis:
There are 20 Premier Crus and 4 Grand Crus with a little of Chambolle’s Grand Cru to the south called Bonnes Mares. I could easily explain these wines as being a little bit of both the communes to the north and south, it’s generally not as sturdy as the wines from the north (Gevrey-Chambertin) and not as fragrant as the wines from the south (Chambolle-Musigny). The main Grand Cru here to look out for is Clos de Tart, described as full-bodied but feminine, good cherry fruit and robust tannins.
• Chambolle-Musigny:
If Gevrey-Chambertin in the north is the King then Chambolle-Musigny is the Queen with its delicate wines. It has only 2 Grand Crus with Bonnes Mares having 1 ½ Hectares in Morey-Saint-Denis to the north. There are 24 Premier Crus. This is a large area so if you know where your favourite grower is you can have an idea about the wines. Premier Crus to the north are generally sturdier and to the south they become light and delicate. The best wine is the Grand Cru Musigny; this Grand Cru is in the premier league of the whole of Cote d’Or. Production is small as always is in Burgundy, so if you can afford it and you are lucky to get you hands on some then you can experience the delight of a top Pinot Noir.
Burgundy, Part 1b: Cote de Nuits (The Grand Cru legends and hangers on)
This is in the heartland of Grand Cru red wine, the heart land of the Cote de Nuits and the heart land of the history of the Cote de Nuits with the Cistercian Monks building the huge wall around the now biggest Grand Cru appellation called Clos de Vougeot. I personally love Clos de Vougeot, as you can pick up some great wines at an affordable price. The Echezeaux also you can pick up some great wines at an affordable price, but some Vosne-Romanee’s can demand a very high price. Let me tell you a little bit about these next 3 appellations that could all fit in the whole of Gevrey-Chambertin together, they are the most famous and some of the most expensive Pinot Noir wines in the world.
Vougeot:
The famous and controversial Grand Cru in Burgundy ‘Clos de Vougeot’. Its controversial because of the Grand Cru Status, the soil here has a sandy structure and produces a ripe wine that’s plump and lush, but can lack the depth of a Grand Cru at the level of Richbourg, Romanee St. Vivant or Musigny. Traditionally the area was graded on location, lower slopes the poorest quality were Cuvees des Moines (wine for Monks), the middle slopes were Cuvee des Rois (wine for Kings), the top of the slopes produced the best quality and were called Cuvee des Papes (wine for Popes). Choose your wine now though on the grower not the location. Just because it says Clos de Vougeot on the label it cannot always guarantee a Grand Cru fine wine. There are 1er Cru and village wines under Vougeot, but I feel it might be worth sourcing and spending your money on a 1er Cru from either Gevrey-Chambertin or maybe Nuits St George just to name an example.
Flagey-Echezeaux: (pronounced “ E-shoe-zoo”)
This commune is normally mentioned together with Vosne-Romanee unless it’s under Grand Cru. Flagey has two Grand Crus; Grand Echezeaux (9,ha) and Echezeaux (37,ha) and in size they are similar to Clos de Vougeot (50,ha) and carry the similar status to connoisseurs as a second division Grand Cru. To put the size in to perspective, the top Grand Cru Romanee-Conti is only 1.8 ha. The 1er Cru in Flagey is all labelled as Vosne-Romanee. You can find some great Echezeaux at good value and the Grand Echezeaux will generally be a little higher in price as the wine is generally richer with more intensity of black fruits and some gamey flavours.
Vosne-Romanee:
When you say the words Romanee-Conti it creates an image of the greatest Pinot Noir in Burgundy, but to some like me, Romanee-Conti means in English “an unobtainable wine”. This whole region can be unobtainable to some even the 1er Crus demand a high price, also even if you can afford expensive wines its still very hard to get your hands on some Grand Cru from Vosne-Romanee. The region holds 6 of the 24 Grand Crus of Cote de Nuits (Romanee-Conti, La Romanee, La Tache, Richbourg, Romanee-Saint-Vivant, La Grand Rue). Echezeaux Grand Cru still produces more wine than all these Grand Crus together, that’s how small they are from 0.85 ha of La Romanee the smallest appellation Controlee in France to 9.4 ha of Romanee-Saint-Romanee. Vosne-Romanee and Flagey-Echezeaux are a good place to look out for 1er Crus, there are 14 and start on the slope about 500 meters from the main road (RN74). Between the 1er Crus and the main road are all labelled under Vosne-Romanee, which any in my mind are worth looking for.
Burgundy, Part 1c: Cote de Nuits (The rest of Cote de Nuits)
• Nuits-Saint George:
The second largest commune in Cote de Nuits after Gevrey-Chambertin, this commune is large and like Clos de Vougeot in the fact that sometimes people will over charge for wine because the name is famous. There are no Grand Crus now until the Cote de Beaune. The wines here have good depth and finesse with good structure and richness for 1er Cru level. Some of the best 1er Cru’s are on the border with Vosne-Romanee. Half way through the commune is the town Nuits-Saint-George and it splits the vineyards in half the southern vineyards 1er Cru’s all on the slopes. This Commune can produce some good 1er Crus, but as said before get to know the grower as this 1er Cru and villages status can be abused with lazy wine making.
• Premeaux:
This commune is next as you drive down the N74 and leave the last 1er Cru on your right hand side up the slope, all the 1er Cru and villages appellations will be labelled as Nuits-Saint-George and the 1er Cru can be more like the 1er Crus of the north Nuits-Saint-George that borders Vosne-Romanee and they produce a good sturdy and masculine wine. Both these communes produce awesome wines, but you must be aware of the name being taken advantage of.
• Comblanchien / Corgoloin:
From the last 1er Cru of Nuits-Saint-George in Premeaux called Clos de la Marechale you are now entering in to 3km of Village status communes before you go into Cote de Beaune. Like in the north of Cote de Nuits you have Brochon and Fixin; these will all be labelled as Cote de Nuits Villages. Out of the whole Cote de Nuits there are some great Cote de Nuits Village wines which I recommend to only buy depending on the grower you know or have been recommended. Cote de Nuits Village wines are not expensive and deserve a try to introduce your self to Cote de Nuits wines; it will be a simple trial and error situation.
General notes for Cote de Nuits
Each wine will be labelled as either:
• Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits (from all the vineyards outside the commune appellations)
• Cote de Nuits Village (either from Comblanchien, Corgoloin in the south or Brochon and Fixin in the north)
• Under just the name of the commune (i.e. Gevrey-Chambertin)
• 1er Cru, naming the vineyard & Commune(i.e. Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques)
• Grand Cru, naming the vineyard & Commune(i.e. Chambertin, Grand Cru)
There is one more appellation its time to mention and that’s Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits, wines with this on the label are from the vineyards all over the cote de Nuits, all around the village vineyards and the 1er Cru vineyards. Land that isn’t considered to be good enough for village level will be under this appellation. There are now over 1,400 Hectares under vine, which 85% is red. Be careful when you buy a white under this appellation, in my mind you’re probably better to buy a white from Cote Chalonnaise or buy a Chardonnay Bourgogne. You can get good reds, but buy from a hot year like 2003, 2005 or even maybe 2009 (yet to be tasted). The white should be ok for a 2007, choose only good vintages for Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits.
Burgundy, Part 1a: Cote de Nuits (Labeled as The King & Queen with their consort)
Cote de Nuits is such a small place and has some of the best pinot noir red wines produced in the world. Many will say the best in the world. Here is a brief outline on what to go for when it comes to choosing wines from the Cote de Nuits.
What’s the best commune? What’s the best wine? Well let’s stick with a few communes that you are likely to find in Hong Kong. We will start with the north to south of Cote de Nuits in the first 3 articles. Then we will move on to Cote de Beaune.
• Gevrey-Chambertin:
There are 26 Premier Crus and 9 Grand Cru’s. The wines are sumptuous, full and sturdy, rich and masculine. They can even be more flamboyant than Vosne-Romanee and more substantial than Chambolle Musigny. Choose this wine if you want to have in my mind the King style of Cote de Nuits and even Cote d’ Or. Be careful when buying villages level as the commune to the north is called Brochon and has 50 hectares that can label their wine as Gevrey-Chambertin villages and these wines can be up and down in quality so you need to know the growers, same goes for the east of the main road (RN74 that runs the length of Cote d’Or) in Gevrey-Chambertin these wines can be lighter in style. Look out for the most west of the commune and into the Premier Crus up to the slope, one in particular is called Clos St Jacques which some critics have said it deserves Grand Cru status.
• Morey-Saint-Denis:
There are 20 Premier Crus and 4 Grand Crus with a little of Chambolle’s Grand Cru to the south called Bonnes Mares. I could easily explain these wines as being a little bit of both the communes to the north and south, it’s generally not as sturdy as the wines from the north (Gevrey-Chambertin) and not as fragrant as the wines from the south (Chambolle-Musigny). The main Grand Cru here to look out for is Clos de Tart, described as full-bodied but feminine, good cherry fruit and robust tannins.
• Chambolle-Musigny:
If Gevrey-Chambertin in the north is the King then Chambolle-Musigny is the Queen with its delicate wines. It has only 2 Grand Crus with Bonnes Mares having 1 ½ Hectares in Morey-Saint-Denis to the north. There are 24 Premier Crus. This is a large area so if you know where your favourite grower is you can have an idea about the wines. Premier Crus to the north are generally sturdier and to the south they become light and delicate. The best wine is the Grand Cru Musigny; this Grand Cru is in the premier league of the whole of Cote d’Or. Production is small as always is in Burgundy, so if you can afford it and you are lucky to get you hands on some then you can experience the delight of a top Pinot Noir.
Burgundy, Part 1b: Cote de Nuits (The Grand Cru legends and hangers on)
This is in the heartland of Grand Cru red wine, the heart land of the Cote de Nuits and the heart land of the history of the Cote de Nuits with the Cistercian Monks building the huge wall around the now biggest Grand Cru appellation called Clos de Vougeot. I personally love Clos de Vougeot, as you can pick up some great wines at an affordable price. The Echezeaux also you can pick up some great wines at an affordable price, but some Vosne-Romanee’s can demand a very high price. Let me tell you a little bit about these next 3 appellations that could all fit in the whole of Gevrey-Chambertin together, they are the most famous and some of the most expensive Pinot Noir wines in the world.
Vougeot:
The famous and controversial Grand Cru in Burgundy ‘Clos de Vougeot’. Its controversial because of the Grand Cru Status, the soil here has a sandy structure and produces a ripe wine that’s plump and lush, but can lack the depth of a Grand Cru at the level of Richbourg, Romanee St. Vivant or Musigny. Traditionally the area was graded on location, lower slopes the poorest quality were Cuvees des Moines (wine for Monks), the middle slopes were Cuvee des Rois (wine for Kings), the top of the slopes produced the best quality and were called Cuvee des Papes (wine for Popes). Choose your wine now though on the grower not the location. Just because it says Clos de Vougeot on the label it cannot always guarantee a Grand Cru fine wine. There are 1er Cru and village wines under Vougeot, but I feel it might be worth sourcing and spending your money on a 1er Cru from either Gevrey-Chambertin or maybe Nuits St George just to name an example.
Flagey-Echezeaux: (pronounced “ E-shoe-zoo”)
This commune is normally mentioned together with Vosne-Romanee unless it’s under Grand Cru. Flagey has two Grand Crus; Grand Echezeaux (9,ha) and Echezeaux (37,ha) and in size they are similar to Clos de Vougeot (50,ha) and carry the similar status to connoisseurs as a second division Grand Cru. To put the size in to perspective, the top Grand Cru Romanee-Conti is only 1.8 ha. The 1er Cru in Flagey is all labelled as Vosne-Romanee. You can find some great Echezeaux at good value and the Grand Echezeaux will generally be a little higher in price as the wine is generally richer with more intensity of black fruits and some gamey flavours.
Vosne-Romanee:
When you say the words Romanee-Conti it creates an image of the greatest Pinot Noir in Burgundy, but to some like me, Romanee-Conti means in English “an unobtainable wine”. This whole region can be unobtainable to some even the 1er Crus demand a high price, also even if you can afford expensive wines its still very hard to get your hands on some Grand Cru from Vosne-Romanee. The region holds 6 of the 24 Grand Crus of Cote de Nuits (Romanee-Conti, La Romanee, La Tache, Richbourg, Romanee-Saint-Vivant, La Grand Rue). Echezeaux Grand Cru still produces more wine than all these Grand Crus together, that’s how small they are from 0.85 ha of La Romanee the smallest appellation Controlee in France to 9.4 ha of Romanee-Saint-Romanee. Vosne-Romanee and Flagey-Echezeaux are a good place to look out for 1er Crus, there are 14 and start on the slope about 500 meters from the main road (RN74). Between the 1er Crus and the main road are all labelled under Vosne-Romanee, which any in my mind are worth looking for.
Burgundy, Part 1c: Cote de Nuits (The rest of Cote de Nuits)
• Nuits-Saint George:
The second largest commune in Cote de Nuits after Gevrey-Chambertin, this commune is large and like Clos de Vougeot in the fact that sometimes people will over charge for wine because the name is famous. There are no Grand Crus now until the Cote de Beaune. The wines here have good depth and finesse with good structure and richness for 1er Cru level. Some of the best 1er Cru’s are on the border with Vosne-Romanee. Half way through the commune is the town Nuits-Saint-George and it splits the vineyards in half the southern vineyards 1er Cru’s all on the slopes. This Commune can produce some good 1er Crus, but as said before get to know the grower as this 1er Cru and villages status can be abused with lazy wine making.
• Premeaux:
This commune is next as you drive down the N74 and leave the last 1er Cru on your right hand side up the slope, all the 1er Cru and villages appellations will be labelled as Nuits-Saint-George and the 1er Cru can be more like the 1er Crus of the north Nuits-Saint-George that borders Vosne-Romanee and they produce a good sturdy and masculine wine. Both these communes produce awesome wines, but you must be aware of the name being taken advantage of.
• Comblanchien / Corgoloin:
From the last 1er Cru of Nuits-Saint-George in Premeaux called Clos de la Marechale you are now entering in to 3km of Village status communes before you go into Cote de Beaune. Like in the north of Cote de Nuits you have Brochon and Fixin; these will all be labelled as Cote de Nuits Villages. Out of the whole Cote de Nuits there are some great Cote de Nuits Village wines which I recommend to only buy depending on the grower you know or have been recommended. Cote de Nuits Village wines are not expensive and deserve a try to introduce your self to Cote de Nuits wines; it will be a simple trial and error situation.
General notes for Cote de Nuits
Each wine will be labelled as either:
• Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits (from all the vineyards outside the commune appellations)
• Cote de Nuits Village (either from Comblanchien, Corgoloin in the south or Brochon and Fixin in the north)
• Under just the name of the commune (i.e. Gevrey-Chambertin)
• 1er Cru, naming the vineyard & Commune(i.e. Gevrey-Chambertin, 1er Cru Clos Saint-Jacques)
• Grand Cru, naming the vineyard & Commune(i.e. Chambertin, Grand Cru)
There is one more appellation its time to mention and that’s Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits, wines with this on the label are from the vineyards all over the cote de Nuits, all around the village vineyards and the 1er Cru vineyards. Land that isn’t considered to be good enough for village level will be under this appellation. There are now over 1,400 Hectares under vine, which 85% is red. Be careful when you buy a white under this appellation, in my mind you’re probably better to buy a white from Cote Chalonnaise or buy a Chardonnay Bourgogne. You can get good reds, but buy from a hot year like 2003, 2005 or even maybe 2009 (yet to be tasted). The white should be ok for a 2007, choose only good vintages for Hautes-Cote-de-Nuits.
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