SMOKING BISHOP: A VICTORIAN-INSPIRED HOLIDAY PUNCH

A Victorian-inspired holiday punch A Victorian-inspired holiday punch

BY DUANE JOHNSON, COALTRAIN FINE WINE, CRAFT BEER & SPIRITS **

There is a legend in Germany that on Christmas Eve animals speak to each other, mountains open up to reveal precious gems, church bells ring from the bottom of the ocean and rivers turn to wine. What wine is not specified, but the legend surely grew with copious quantities of the local mulled wine we know as gluhwein (pronounced glue-vine, [no glue included]).

Mulled — or spiced — wine has been traced back to the ancient Greeks, where spices were added to make some of the lesser local wine a bit more palatable. Before the advent of corks and barrel aging to add tannins, most wines were consumed very young; spiced wines lasted longer.

The Romans spread the tradition throughout Europe, where it eventually arrived in Merry Olde England. In Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” a newly reformed Ebenezer Scrooge invites Bob Cratchit to discuss his salary over a bowl of Smoking Bishop, a very popular mulled wine recipe of the day. The word “bishop” was code for the clove and orange-infused port punch.

Many variations exist, most notably Glogg from Scandinavia. Almost every wine drinking country, from eastern Europe to South America, has a mulled wine tradition for Christmas. The term often translates to boiled or cooked wine, as the wine is often heating while being spiced. Interestingly, there is one country that does not have this tradition — the United States! In America, mulled wine is not usually a part of Christmas. Those interested usually end up purchasing German Gluhwein, an always available base wine.

If making your own, save the good wine for your Christmas table. Recipes for mulled or spiced wine abound on the internet.

Frohe Weihnachten (Merry Christmas/ Happy Christmas)!

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