The Bordeaux Cup Brings Extra Holiday Cheer
Here’s to cheery holidays, holidays full of friends and family, delicious food, fun, frolicking, and the Bordeaux Cup in every cup. If you don’t know the “cup” family of drinks, then I suggest you add them to holiday invite list. Basically a quick wine (or other base) punch spiced up and served over ice, the “cup” has been consumed for, well, at least over a hundred plus years, for holidays and every-days. You can sub in another red wine here (claret was once a popular choice, and has a nice seasonal ring to it) and not lose any of the festiveness, too. And that’s what this drink, and this time of year, is all about: being more festive (here’s a big “cheers” for that notion). The below recipe is from Wine Cocktails (copyedit 2009, Harvard Common Press), and the lovely photo take by Melissa Punch.
The Bordeaux Cup
Serves 6
Ingredients:
1 lemon
One 750-milliliter bottle Bordeaux
3 ounces simple syrup (see Second Note, below)
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
Ice cubes
Directions:
1. Using a sharp peeler or paring knife, remove the rind from the lemon, working to get only rind, leaving the white pith behind. Chop the lemon rind into 1- to-2-inch pieces.
2. Combine the Bordeaux, simple syrup, water, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice to a large pitcher. Stir well.
3. Add the lemon rind to the pitcher, and stir again briefly.
4. Fill up six goblets halfway with ice cubes. Pour the mixture into the goblets, making sure each gets a little lemon rind, and serve.
A Note: There are many Bordeaux varieties (all being wine produced in the region of the same name), and some can run high on the pricing side. As you’re mixing it here, I would go for the basic “Red Bordeaux” or “Bordeaux Superieur,” which are fruity and a bit oaky, and which fall into the middle range of the cost spectrum.
A Second Note: For the simple syrup: Combine 2 -1/2 cups water and 3 cups sugar in a medium-sized saucepan. Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to a boil over a medium-high heat. Lower the heat a bit, keeping the mixture at the low boil for five minutes. Turn off the heat, and let the syrup completely cool in the pan. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
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