Particularly at this time of year, scents can be strong memory enhancers.
For instance, if I smell mulled wine orgl hwein, I feel like I’m nine years old again, sitting in a small motel room on a ski trip to Bend in December. On the stove in the kitchenette, the grownups are warming up some red wine to add lemon segments and other seasonings. The mixture smelled wonderful, but I was never able to taste it.
I have two entertaining ideas for you if you like the glow that comes from a mug of warm wine flavored with fruit and spices. Two of Oregon’s oldest continually running wineries, Honeywood Winery in Salem and Nehalem Bay Winery in Nehalem, are responsible for these beloved Christmas wines.
You can still enjoy these wines long after the holidays are over, so don’t worry. Mulled wine can be enjoyed in Oregon for the majority of the year because they are ideal for any chilly, wet night.
Holiday Cheer from Honeywood Winery ($13–11% ABV)
Marlene Gallick is the current owner of Honeywood Winery, which was established in 1934 by John Wood and Ronald Honeyman. Perhaps none of Honeywood’s wines in its ninety-year existence have been as well-liked as Holiday Cheer, which debuted in 1995 under the name Holiday Nog.
Holiday Cheer is a riesling that has been mixed with clove, orange essence, and cranberry juice concentrate. It tastes and smells like blood orange juice, cranberry pastille, with a hint of clove. It’s not quite as sweet as I had anticipated, and it’s the color of the red stripe on a candy cane.
Leslie Gallick, Honeywood’s general manager and Marlene’s daughter, sent me the official Honeywood holiday spritzer recipe, which I modified somewhat, even though Holiday Cheer can be served hot or cold.
Fill a wine glass with four ounces of chilled Holiday Cheer and then one ounce of chilled club soda. Add orange slices, mint or rosemary sprigs, and perhaps a cinnamon stick if you like your drinks spicy.
A raging fire in the fireplace and Pink Martini’s Joy to the World CD go well with this light and refreshing delight.
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mon–Wed, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. Thursday–Friday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Honeywood Winery, 1350 Hines St. S.E., Salem, 503-362-4111, Sunday (holiday hours).
Santa’s Elixir, Nehalem Bay Winery, $25, 11% ABV
In 1974, former broadcaster Patrick McCoy converted an abandoned creamery on the Oregon coast into a winery, which is how Nehalem Bay Winery got its start. Later, in 1991, McCoy became partners with philanthropist and decorated combat hero Ray Shackleford. Shackleford became the sole proprietor of Nehalem Bay Winery after McCoy passed away in 1993.
The winery also started producing Santa’s Elixir in the early 1990s, which combines orange peel and clove with Cranper, the well-known cranberry wine from Nehalem Bay.
That cheerful old elf’s fur-trimmed outfit is the color of Santa’s Elixir. In my drafty kitchen, the wine’s sharpness and acidity balance out a hint of sweetness when tasted slightly chilled, or room temperature. The orange and clove notes are not overpowered by the cranberry scents and smells.
Depending on your preference, the people at Nehalem Bay advise boiling Santa’s Elixir in a crockpot on low for one to two hours. If you want to make it more elaborate, pour it into a coffee mug and top it with a cinnamon stick or a fresh orange peel and clove.
It was a wonderful mix when I tried it with a tiny star anise, which usually makes me think of the Christmas star. When sipped warm, Santa’s Elixir goes well with a turkey sandwich while watching the 2014 holiday classic, Christmas Again, which starred Kentucker Audley.
Every day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 34965 Highway 53, Nehalem; 503-368-9463; nehalembaywinery.com.
— Michael Alberty is a wine writer for Wine Enthusiast Magazine and The Oregonian/OregonLive. His email address is [email protected]. Visit tooregonlive.com/wine to read more of his coverage.
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