iN HOLIDAY: Salmon Arm winery making traditional winter cocktail mulled wine
A steaming cast iron pot full of mulled wine will be hanging over a fire at a winery in Salmon Arm this holiday season.
The owners at Marionette Winery, Amanda Eastwood and James Smith, make the traditional drink from their fortified red wine and whole spices.
“Mulled wine really adds to the Christmas holiday atmosphere,” Smith said. “There's something both new and old-fashioned about standing by the fire and having a hot cup in your hand full of mulled wine.”
Making the beverage during the cold, holiday season has been a tradition at the winery since the pair opened in 2015. It's a cocktail they enjoyed while living and studying winemaking in Europe years ago.
“We used to travel around Europe where there are Christmas markets where you have wooden shacks in the main square covered in cedar boughs,” Smith said. “They have mulled wine all the time and to me coming here we lost some traditions but I think they are starting to come back.”
READ MORE: Chopping down your own Christmas tree this year? Not so fast...
Mulled wine is a term used to describe a beverage, usually made with a red wine variety, infused with spices and served warm. It's famous throughout Europe and has been served during the winter months for centuries.
There are many mulled wine recipes from complex to simple and the ingredients vary depending on the region.
Typical spices used in mulled wine include allspice, anise, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and vanilla. The addition of fruit or sugar to sweeten the mixture also varies from recipe to recipe. Bitter orange is a common additive, but some recipes also call for apple, fig, ginger or even raisins.
To make mulled wine, the ingredients are combined and the mixture is simmered until thoroughly heated, then strained and served, or refrigerated to allow further infusion of the flavours.
The mulled wine at Marionette Winery is made from the winery’s fortified dark rosé and a mix of whole spices like star anise, nutmeg and cinnamon sticks.
“We have a dark rosé which is a fortified wine fermented on the skins,” Smith said. “We take it off the skins so it is lighter and more flexible. It is a great wine for a cocktail base because it is has a higher alcohol content than a regular wine with half the sweetness of it, and a thicker texture.”
READ MORE: A bologna mascot upstages Santa every year in the St. John's, N.L., Christmas parade
Wine lovers are encouraged to share some hot wine next to the fire on the patio onsite during upcoming events, or pick up premade kits to take home that come with a bottle of Marionette’s wine, their mulled wine recipe and a sachet of spices to sprinkle in.
Smith is from Salmon Arm and spent 11 years working and living in Europe while Eastwood is from Europe where she spent her summers as a child in France.
The pair met while travelling in Spain. They continued onto England where they earned degrees in viticulture and oenology, before going onto work in England and Europe, eventually settling in Salmon Arm and opening the winery in 2015.
“We're really looking forward to sharing some mulled wine next to a fire on our patio and welcoming everyone to our cozy lounge space for some holiday cheer,” Eastwood said.
The winery tasting room is open to customers on Saturday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. until spring where the mulled wine kits can be picked up.
Go here to see upcoming holiday events at Marionette Winery located at 2540 40th Street NE Salmon Arm.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
