Wine of the Week
MULLED wine goes well with mists, mellow fruitfulness and the general misery of an English autumn. What's more, it's easy to make. There is only one basic rule, which is that wine should be heated gently, never boiled; and the necessary equipment is small -a saucepan, glass mugs with handles (mulled wine should be served too hot to hold in a thin wine-glass), and a spoon to each glass to prevent it cracking. A very simple mull is made by heat- ing slowly together, very nearly to boiling point, one bottle of red yin ordinaire (a 6s. or 7s. Spanish burgundy will do very well), half as much water, a sherry glass of brandy, a couple of lumps of sugar and a pinch or so of cinnamon or nutmeg, with a slice of peeled lemon to each glass.
The classic eighteenth-century 'Bishop'-mulled port-was offered at a tasting at Vintners' Hall last week, and is said to cost about eighteenpence a glass to make. Bring almost to the boil a bottle 01' ruby port, or some other respectable sweet red dessert wine, adding half as much boiling water into which a good pinch of mixed spice has been sprinkled, and a lemon that has been stuck with cloves and roasted in the oven. Then rub a few lumps of sugar on the rind of another lemon until they have absorbed its oil and fragrance, and add them along with a squeeze of the juice. Serve hot. Thus the contemporary recipe, though I seem to recall reading somewhere that Dr. Johnson, who was very partial to Bishop, said Seville oranges, not lemons. Try both, and decide for yourself.
CYRIL RAY
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