Mulled wine has its origins in the cooler countries North of here. Recipes are debated with the fervour and hostility of the classics (how do you make spaghetti bolognese sauce, it’s not bolognese it’s ragu, carrots, no carrots etc). Suffice to say there is usually red wine, it is always warmed and there are spices. So where can you get one in Melbourne?
THE ORDER OF MELBOURNE
First stop is The Order of Melbourne. The mulled is ladelled into a retro teacup upon a saucer and a fiver is all they want in return. Fabulous. If you’re hand-steady you can even carry it up the stairs and sit out in the cold (well, relative cold – there are heaters) and imbibe it as intended. Rebecca Tullock, Goddess Of Good Times at The Order of Melbourne says, “I’d say mulled wine is popular here because not only does it taste and smell delicious, but it’s served in fancy tea cups and makes the perfect warm beverage to cling to if you’re on the rooftop, Melbourne is freezing in the winter and nothing warms you up more than a cup of mulled!
“A great mulled wine is about getting the balance right, not too sweet and not too zingy,” she continues. “Fresh spices brewed to the right temperature and none of this watered-down business. We make our mulled wine fresh everyday and are sure to taste it constantly to make sure it’s producing the perfect cup of mulled,” she says. I thought they seemed jolly lot. The Order recipe goes something like, “Fresh nutmeg, star anise and a decent brandy give it that extra kick on top of the usual spices, as well as using fresh lemon and orange rind for the zing.”
RIVERLAND
If you’re after seriously romantic chill, there are few places better than Riverland, down by the river beyond Federation Square, looking up past the bridge to the spire, you could almost be in… well just Melbourne really. Andy Price, Venue Manager And Maintainer Of Mystique (I can only assume venue managers create their own titles) is serious about protecting this recipe, not to mention a little competitive. “Factually speakin’, the Order I believe you speak of were the incredibly fortunate recipients of the famous Riverland Mulled Wine Recipe (…closely guarded secret… “Tell ya?’ – I’d have to kill ya’,”…creators never travel on the same plane together… you get the idea…).”
Oh yes, I get the idea. “My thinking is that mulled wine is a terrific example of a kinda happy sensory association… the best example of which is when the tureen of Winter joy is simmering away, the wind is blowing in the right direction and a customer comes trotting down the stairs to us – smells the mulled wine and thinks of either: Christmas! – the ingredients combining to that aroma and taste; and/or happy, happy times on European ski slopes, blue sky, wind in face, spunks and hunks abounding, not a care and… mulled wine!”
Price says the greatest mulled wines achieve a gentle balance between the spices and the liquor and are served at the correct temperature, “which is, ironically enough, just a little too hot to slurp at the first go, which (at an outdoor riverside venue in a Melbourne winter) Mother Nature quickly adjusts to be spot-on; warm enough to wrap your cold mitts around / juuusssttt right for gulping!”
MADAME BRUSSELS
‘Brussels are well known for mixing things up and putting them in fancy things. And astroturf. How I covet thee, astroturf. Tom Scott, [no crazy title] of Madame Brussels says it’s a hit in our home town because, “Melbourne is rather similar to many European cities, not only in style but also with our frigid weather. We like to cosy up with our friends and lovers, and what better way to warm the heart and the cockles then with a steaming hot alcoholic beverage? Of all the possibilities out there like hot toddys and hot Butter Rum and blazers, mulled wine evokes images of lying down on a shag pile rug in front of an roaring open fire, and who doesn’t enjoy that?” Indeed. I expect to see that grass replaced by shag any day now.
“The key to a great mulled wine or gluvine,” imparts Scott knowledgeably, “is to start with a big bold spicy and juicy red, like a Shiraz from the Barossa valley, lots of fresh spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise and cloves, fresh or dried fruits such as oranges, strawberries and figs, a good amount of sweetener whether it be the liquors, or syrups, a good hit of extra booze, maybe some brandy to get you randy and finally, in traditional European style, some egg yolk, heated through; this helps to make the mulled wine thick and rich.” I’m not entirely sure I’m glad I know this recipe, but he certainly sounds like he knows what he’s doing.
What Scott lacks in fancy title he makes up for in amorosity. (We’re drinking, let’s make up words.) “At ‘Brussels we make a delicious fig mulled wine, with lots of spice, red wine and brandy, strawberries and figs – steamy and sweet, the perfect aphrodisiac, served in a tea pot with pink cosy and tea cups, made to share with a lover, friend or perhaps a new attractive acquaintance.
Match that with a pink fluffy blanket and hot water bottle, and you’re set for a cosy evening on Madame Brussels’ rather fancy terrace.” Promises, promises.
THREE BELOW
One place you can get mulled almost any time of year is Three Below, lurking below the Westin on City Square, it’san agreeable dugout packed with punters.
Gerard’s a concise type and the Three Below recipe reflects this. “I think if you try to over complicate the recipe you can lose the subtle flavours,” he says. The Three Below version has European roots. “Our mulled wine is a variation on the traditional Vin Chaud recipe from Alsace, which was originally the German region Elsass and would of been referred to as ‘Gluwein’ – we use a slightly sweetened red wine, and heat it with citrus peel, vanilla, star anise, cloves and cinnamon.”
These are just a few selections – rug up, go forth, and drink the red elixir!
CHECK OUT:
The Order Of Melbourne
Levels 2 & 3,
401 Swanston St Melbourne
theorder.com.au
9663 6707
Riverland
Vaults 1-9
Federation Wharf, Under Princes Bridge
riverlandbar.com
9662 1771
Madame Brussels
Level 3, 59-63 Bourke St
madamebrussels.com
9662 2775
Three Below
3 City Square
threebelow.com.au
9662 9555
Rue Bebelons
267 Little Lonsdale St
ruebebelons.com.au
9452 0070
Sister Bella
22 Drewery Place (Snider Lane)
Rooftop At Curtin House
252 Swanston St
markeai.com
9663 4218
