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Alsace
On Place du Beffroi in Obernai, no one stops at any other stall before tasting from the winegrowers' cauldron: vin chaud, the undisputed star of Alsace's Christmas markets.
Mulled wine from Alsace.
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The Romans were already preparing a spiced hot wine for its digestive properties and to warm themselves in winter, which they called 'Conditum Paradoxum'; the Greeks named it 'Hippocras' after Hippocrates. From the Middle Ages onwards, the recipe in France was enriched with cloves, cinnamon and citrus fruit, before gaining popularity throughout Northern Europe — Sweden, England — to become a true festive drink. A tourist website dedicated to Kaysersberg recounts a similar tale: as early as the first century BC, the Roman gourmet Apicius recommended adding cinnamon, bay leaves, cloves and saffron to a mixture of honey and wine; in the Middle Ages, hypocras — named after Hippocrates — was reserved for kings and nobles, so costly was cinnamon.
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To stand out at the Obernai Christmas market, winegrowers began offering a hot white wine, spiced but not acidic: on Place du Beffroi, at the cauldron of the Corporation des vignerons, visitors chat with the winegrowers and choose a bottle of Alsace wine from those on display, before raising a toast with ''S gilt!' (Cheers!). A second tradition, documented by a tourist website dedicated to Kaysersberg rather than by an institutional source, describes a red vin chaud: dry red wine, orange or lemon slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves and sugar or honey, sometimes enlivened with vanilla or cardamom. The two traditions coexist without consensus on a single grape variety — vin chaud d'Alsace as encountered today at the Christmas markets draws on one or the other depending on the stall.
Appearance
Golden amber colour for the white wine version, or deep ruby for the red wine version; citrus slices and cinnamon sticks visible on the surface.
Aroma
Warm spices — cinnamon, cloves — mingled with the tangy aromas of citrus fruit.
Taste
Spiced yet with little acidity for the Alsace white wine version, delicate and convivial; fuller-bodied and slightly sweet for the red wine version.
Texture
Hot, slightly syrupy liquid, owing to the sugar or honey added to the preparation.
Two variations share the stalls of the Alsatian Christmas markets. The first, championed by the winegrowers of Obernai, is prepared with a dry white Alsace wine — Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Sylvaner, Riesling or Edelzwicker — Alsace producing 90% white wine. The second, more generally associated with vin chaud as made elsewhere in France and across Europe, uses a dry red wine enlivened with citrus fruit and spices.
cinnamon sticks, cloves, orange or lemon slices, sugar or honey, sometimes vanilla or cardamom.
the mixture infuses for at least an hour before being reheated and strained to remove the spices just before serving.
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Vin chaud is enjoyed steaming hot, in a glass or cup, straight from a Christmas market stall — that of the Corporation des vignerons, on Place du Beffroi in Obernai, above all others. It pairs with other Alsatian Christmas delicacies: pain d'épices, bredele, foie gras or jams, amidst the atmosphere of markets devoted entirely to gastronomy and crafts. It is shared with friends or family with a ''S gilt!' — Cheers, in Alsatian.
Vin chaud d'Alsace bears no official quality mark (PDO (AOP), PGI (IGP), Label Rouge): it is a Christmas market culinary tradition, prepared by winegrowers and local stalls according to house recipes, with no formal specifications governing it.
Winegrowers' association
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