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Few things capture a French winter quite like vin chaud. Walk through any Christmas market from Alsace to the Alps, and you will find it: the deep, spiced aroma of red wine warming with cinnamon and orange that people gather around, cupped in cold hands, as the evening draws in.
Its story runs far deeper than the markets, though. Spiced wine reaches all the way back to the Romans, but it was in the Middle Ages that it became a French institution, known then as hypocras. Named in a nod to the physician Hippocrates, it was a sweetened, spiced wine steeped with cinnamon, ginger, and clove, and it was thought to warm the body and aid digestion. At a time when spices travelled great distances and cost a small fortune, a cup of hypocras was a mark of refinement, served at the banquets of kings and nobles.
Over the centuries, the recipe softened into the vin chaud we know today, red wine gently warmed with citrus and warming spices. By the nineteenth century, with the first Christmas markets of Alsace and beyond, it had become the beloved winter ritual it remains.
The secret to a good vin chaud is patience. Warm the wine gently and never let it boil, giving the spices time to infuse while the wine keeps its character. Sweeten it lightly, and serve it warm.
The Terre Exotique Vin Chaud Mix makes it easy to prepare. A fragrant blend of cinnamon, cardamom, orange peel, and star anise, it turns a simple bottle of red into something festive and comforting, with nothing to measure and no spice cabinet to raid.
Vin chaud is made for sharing, and it rewards a little thought in the serving. Pour it into small glasses or handled cups, each finished with a cinnamon stick and a round of orange. Set out something to nibble alongside, a wedge of dark chocolate, a plate of spiced biscuits, or warm roasted chestnuts, and you have the makings of the perfect cozy evening.
An evening like this deserves a beautiful setting, and that is the quiet art at the heart of a French winter: not doing more, simply doing it beautifully. It is exactly the feeling that inspired our November Box, Winter Chic, filled with luxurious pieces to bring a little more elegance to your winter evenings, from the first cold night to the last celebration of the year.
