Wine of the Gods
Sweetened wine with apple, lemon, and clove
City/Region: France
Time Period: 1662
Wine has been drunk out of animal skins, metal cups, crude glass vessels, and delicate glasses of all shapes. I chose a small cordial-type glass for this recipe, which had a beautiful color from the pinot noir rosé I used.
This Wine of the Gods reminds me a bit of sangria with the fruit and sugar. It turns out absolutely delicious with notes of the fruit and orange flower. I didn’t get any of the clove flavor, but that may be different if you used a different wine. It’s quite sweet, so you could cut it with some water or use it as a base for a cocktail.
“Vin des Dieux
Take two fat lemons, peel them and cut them in slices, with two reinette apples, peeled and cut in the same way as the lemons: put everything in a dish, with three quarters of a pound of powdered sugar, a pint of wine, six clove buds, a little orange blossom water; cover everything well, and let it soak for two or three hours; pass it through a sleeve like for Hypocras: if you wish, add ambergris and also musk like Hypocras, and you will find it excellent.”
Ingredients:
- 2 apples, something sweet and floral
- 2 lemons
- 2 cups (260 g) powdered sugar*
- 6 cloves
- 2 tablespoons (30 ml) orange blossom water
- 1 bottle of wine, whatever you like, I used pinot noir rosé
*Make sure that there is no cornstarch in the ingredients, just sugar
Instructions:
- Peel and core the apples. Peel the lemons, removing as much of the white pith from the flesh as possible. Slice the apples and lemons into rounds, removing as many seeds as possible.
- Line the bottom of a pot or baking dish with half of the slices, then sprinkle half of the sugar over them. Make another layer of fruit slices with the remainder, and sprinkle the rest of the sugar over that.
- Pour in the wine and add the cloves and orange blossom water. Do not stir.
- Cover and let it sit for 2 to 3 hours.
- After the 2 to 3 hours, remove the fruit (don’t throw it away, it’s a delicious snack) and pass the wine through a hippocratic sleeve. If you don’t have one yet, use a jelly bag, almond milk bag, or a coffee filter.
- Serve the wine forth in a glass of your choosing.