It's January, it's cold and it's bleak but don't make the month any worse by punishing yourself with a no-alcohol policy.
Forget chilled white wines and ice cold beers, there's no reason we can't still enjoy a good glass of mulled wine throughout the winter.
Mulled wine is a great warming treat whenever there's a chill in the air and if it had a season it would run from Hallowe'en to Valentine's Day.
All you need is a robust red, some spices and a dash of brandy (for those particularly cold evenings). I tend to use a fruity claret as the tannic structure lends itself well to the final cup of warming loveliness.
Try a bottle of Chateau Lagarde 2005 (Inverarity One to One) for the bargain bin-end price of just £7.50 ... and that's for a litre bottle.
Alternatively, grab a bottle of M&S's Beaujolais 2010 (£6.99) which will give you a lighter, fresher wine for mulling.
The spice recipe includes cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg but you're as well buying a pre-mixed sachet. Schwartz do an affordable, readily available. I also add an extra cinnamon stick to the pan, the aforementioned glug of brandy and (crucially) some sugar. Trust me, it just doesn't work without the sugar. Stir well in a pan for a few minutes to let the flavours infuse before decanting into the largest cup you can find. More brandy can be added at this stage.
If that all sounds like too much hard work, get down to your local Co-Op before they run out of their ready made Mulled Wine (currently on offer at £2.99), which can be opened, poured into a mug and microwaved for instant enjoyment. Hurrah!
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article