Kuvano vino

Ingredients

The wine

• 1.5 litresred wine
• a soft Montenegrin red
• vranac if you can get it
• 150 gsugar
• or to taste

Spices

• 3cinnamon sticks
• 12whole cloves
• 1 teaspoonallspice berries
• a pinch of grated nutmeg
• 2star anise, optional

Fruit

• 2oranges, sliced
• 1lemon, sliced
• a strip of orange peel

Sometimes added

• a shot of rakija
• or lozovača, grape brandy
• a spoonful of honey

Directions

1. Taste it as you go rather than following a clock. Winters there are long and cold. Warm alcohol is absorbed faster than cold. Never drink it before skiing or driving.
2. Keep it at a bare steam instead. Put the whole spices in a dry pan. Warm them over a medium low heat. Give them about two full minutes. Shake the pan as they warm through. They should smell noticeably stronger. Wash the oranges very thoroughly. Waxed fruit should be scrubbed well.
3. Slice them all into thin rounds. Keep the peel on, since it carries the oil. Slice the lemon up in the same way. Slice the fruit rather than juicing it. Pour about a third of the wine into a pot. Add the toasted whole spices to it. Add the sliced fruit to the pot. Warm it gently over a low heat.
4. Let it steep very gently for ten minutes. The cold wine brings the temperature down. Warm the whole pot through gently. Bring it to a bare steam only. Never let it bubble at all here.
5. Hold it there for about fifteen minutes. Judging the temperature takes attention. Steam should rise from the surface. No bubbles should break it at all. Turn the heat right down if it starts to bubble. Adding the sugar is done off the heat.
6. Take the pot right off the heat first. Stir the sugar in until it dissolves. Taste it and adjust the sweetness. A tannic vranac needs a good deal of sugar.
7. Taste it rather than measuring blindly. Add a spoonful of honey for a rounder result. Add a shot of rakija off the heat. That is done at some fairs and huts. Strain out the fruit and spices. Do it after about twenty minutes. Pour it into warmed mugs or glasses. Add a fresh orange slice to each one. Add a cinnamon stick if you like. It is drunk standing in the cold.

Technique

• The atlas also carries kuhano vino from Slovenia, and the two names are direct cognates with kuvano and kuhano both meaning cooked; the drink is essentially the same, as it is across the whole region, and the atlas records both rather than pretending they differ.
• What does differ is the wine: Montenegro’s main red is vranac, deep, full-bodied and quite tannic in its own right, where Slovenia uses teran or refošk. Tannin concentrates as wine heats and can turn drying and bitter, so a tannic vranac needs more sugar and a shorter heating.
• Alcohol boils well below the boiling point of water and evaporates off long before the wine boils, and boiling concentrates the tannins harshly; keep it at a bare steam around seventy degrees with no bubbles breaking the surface.

Substitutions

• Any soft fruity red works where vranac is unavailable.
• Honey in place of some of the sugar gives a rounder result.

Variations

• A shot of lozovača or other rakija is added at some fairs.
• Kuhano vino, glögg and glühwein are the same idea elsewhere.
• The sweetness varies with the wine, so taste rather than measure.

History

Poured at Montenegrin winter fairs and in the mountain towns around Kolašin and Žabljak.

Frequently asked questions

What is Kuvano vino?

Kuvano vino is a cocktail from Montenegro: red wine simmered with sugar, cloves and citrus, served hot. Poured at Montenegrin winter fairs and in the mountain towns around Kolašin and Žabljak.

How long does Kuvano vino take to make?

Kuvano vino takes 10 minutes of preparation and 25 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes serves 6. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Kuvano vino?

Yes, within limits. Any soft fruity red works where vranac is unavailable. Honey in place of some of the sugar gives a rounder result.

What is the most important thing to get right in Kuvano vino?

Taste it as you go rather than following a clock. Winters there are long and cold. Warm alcohol is absorbed faster than cold. Never drink it before skiing or driving.