Around late november or early december each year, christmas markets start to appear in piazzas all over italy, selling handcrafted gifts and typical holiday foods and drinks such as vin brl, a hot, spiced mulled wine usually served in ceramic mugs. It's a mystery why a french name (literally meaning "Burnt wine") is used in italy since in france mulled wine is known as vin chaud ("Hot wine"). But whatever the story behind the name, it's a warming, aromatic beverage that's lovely to sip on cold winter days. It's great to make a big potful of it for a holiday party and ladle mugfuls of it out as guests arrivewith the bonus of making your house smell wonderful and festiveUse a full-bodied, fruity red wine for this, but do not waste a high-quality or expensive wine. Go for a cheap merlot, cabernet sauvignon, primitivo (zinfandel), negroamaro or salice salentino. A version of vin brl called bis is made in the emilia-romagna region with sangiovese. This recipe is basic and simple, but feel free to add additional spices as desired (suggestions below) and adjust the sweetener to taste. If you want to give your vin brl a little extra kick, you can fortify it with 2 tablespoons of spiced rum, grand marnier, triple sec, brandy, cognac, apple brandy or calvados (a french apple brandy). If on the other hand, you want to tone it down a bit, you can add either additional freshly squeezed orange juice or apple cider to dilute the wine a bit.
