Vin d'Orange

This recipe for orange infused wine from Put 'em Up! called out to me. I wanted to start small, so I made a 1/2 batch. The result is very cinnamon stick-y which took some getting used to. After a few small glasses, I have grown fond of it. I've just been drinking it on the rocks, but Paul enjoyed it mixed with some seltzer water. The flavor is best described like this: if Christmas (cinnamon and vanilla) and Summer (bright citrus and clean white wine) had a baby, it would be Vin d'Orange.

The notion is simple and makes me want to play with more versions. Maybe next time I will leave out the cinnamon and use star anise instead.

After you infuse the liquids, you end up with a good amount of citrus leftovers. I didn't want to let all of the yummy infused fruit go to waste, so I consulted the ever-useful internet and came upon this recipe. One Hundred Eggs' recipe for Vin d'Orange sounds great, but since kumquats and meyer lemons are not in season, I just used his marmalade recipe for my infused oranges.

And, after all of that was complete, I took the leftover vanilla bean and added it to some sugar to see if it makes vanilla sugar. I love it when one project flows to the next.

If you try a Vin d'Orange recipe, I would like to hear how you drink it. I am sure there is big potential here.