Vinho quente

Ingredientes

• 2/3 cups white sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 12 whole cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• peel of 1 lemon
• 750 ml red wine ((1 bottle))
• 1/3 cup water
• juice squeezed from half lemon

Modo de preparo

1. 1

   Place sugar, cinnamon stick, cloves, nutmeg and lemon peel in a large sauce pan. Pour 1/3 cup wine over it (just to cover it) plus 1/3 cup water. Squeeze juice of half a lemon on top. Bring to boil, mix all ingredients well, making sure all sugar dissolves.

2. 2

   Simmer on low boil, covered, for 15 minutes (to infuse all flavors together), until the liquid reduces in about half and the syrup forms. The boiling syrup will have a lot of small bubbles and will be visibly reduced. At that point, pour the rest of the bottle of wine, bring the whole mixture almost to boil, mixing well. Just as the mixture is about to boil, turn off heat and let it sit covered for about 1 hour to further infuse flavors.

3. 3

   After 1 hour, sift the liquid to get rid of cloves, lemon peel, etc. Gently warm up without boiling and serve.