For the 2010 shitennou_ai Advent Drabblender
Part 6 of 24
Author: verisimilitude9
Characters: Jupiter, Zoisite
Prompt: Mulled Wine
“This here is an excellent vintage.”
Jupiter glanced over at the European King, whose bright green eyes echoed the wide smile on his boyishly handsome face. Zoisite was gregarious, charming, and infectiously enthusiastic about all aspects of the Terran Yuletide celebrations. Now he brought out a bottle of wine with a cork stopper and showed it to her as though the emerald-green glass held treasures inside.
“What is it?”
“This, my friend, is a bottle of 10-year-old Syrah from the Rhône Valley, which is part of my kingdom,” Zoisite explained. “It is an outstanding red, full and hearty, and perfectly suitable for making mulled wine.” He uncorked the bottle in an expert motion and sniffed the cork before pouring her a small glass. “Here, have a smell, a taste.”
Jupiter brought the glass to her nose, swirling the garnet-coloured liquid slightly and smelling rich scents of blackberry and peppercorns and leather. The wine was dry and slightly spicy, with a surprisingly smooth aftertaste of toffee after she swallowed a mouthful. It was heady and warm all the way down, and she smiled as she finished the glass. “So, this is the main ingredient for the drink you have in mind?”
“There is nothing like mulled wine on a cold winter’s day,” Zoisite replied firmly. “And made with a fine red like this, it will be amazing. Spicy and sweet and a single glass will warm you up from head to toe.”
Jupiter thought of Serenity, giggling outside with her love as snowflakes fell, silver-on-silver, on her hair and eyelashes, of Nephrite chopping wood outside to stoke fires, and smiled, cheeks pinkening perhaps from the wine. She let Zoisite show her how to grate the peels of oranges and sift in a small amount of dark brown sugar into the pot with the wine and the brandy and the spices he had laid out. Within minutes, as the mixture began to warm, the kitchen was filled with delectable scents of citron and cinnamon and nutmeg, and every few moments, Zoisite would taste a spoonful of the simmering wine, giving her increasingly cheerful pointers on what to do next.
Finally, it was done, and Zoisite’s face was flushed, his sandy-blond curls mussed and frizzing slightly from the steam rising from the pot. “Now you let it cool a little, but of course not too much! Just enough to drink it without burning your mouth! And you put it in a punch bowl. Not a glass one, because glass sometimes shatters when filled with hot liquids. Which is strange, because usually you drink wine in a glass. But this is mulled wine, so it is different, you see. Regular wine you don’t drink hot-- though I think in Jadeite’s kingdom there is a liquor called sake that is often heated before consumption. It isn’t for Yule, though. This is better.”
Jupiter sampled a glass for herself, and the combination of hot, spicy wine and Zoisite’s giddy ramble had her giggling. Her hands were not completely steady as she poured the contents of the pot into a punch bowl-- bright white ceramic with a golden rim-- and a little bit splashed onto the table. Both her and Zoisite reached for a dish-rag at the same time, and because both of them were slightly tipsy, they collided, his nose hitting her collarbone, the rag flying onto the floor.
The door of the kitchen opened, revealing Nephrite, who carried an axe in one hand while the other brushed flecks of snow from his furry robes. Zoisite caught sight of his fellow guardian as he moved his face away from the vicinity of Jupiter’s bosom, and, with a reckless sort of cheekiness that was likely a result of the alcohol, grinned at the bigger man. “It was an accident,” he told Nephrite in a beatifically innocent voice. “I taught her how to make mulled wine! Just for you! If you use the axe on me you’ll get blood all over the kitchen and Endymion will be mad!”
Author: verisimilitude9
Characters: Jupiter, Zoisite
Prompt: Mulled Wine
“This here is an excellent vintage.”
Jupiter glanced over at the European King, whose bright green eyes echoed the wide smile on his boyishly handsome face. Zoisite was gregarious, charming, and infectiously enthusiastic about all aspects of the Terran Yuletide celebrations. Now he brought out a bottle of wine with a cork stopper and showed it to her as though the emerald-green glass held treasures inside.
“What is it?”
“This, my friend, is a bottle of 10-year-old Syrah from the Rhône Valley, which is part of my kingdom,” Zoisite explained. “It is an outstanding red, full and hearty, and perfectly suitable for making mulled wine.” He uncorked the bottle in an expert motion and sniffed the cork before pouring her a small glass. “Here, have a smell, a taste.”
Jupiter brought the glass to her nose, swirling the garnet-coloured liquid slightly and smelling rich scents of blackberry and peppercorns and leather. The wine was dry and slightly spicy, with a surprisingly smooth aftertaste of toffee after she swallowed a mouthful. It was heady and warm all the way down, and she smiled as she finished the glass. “So, this is the main ingredient for the drink you have in mind?”
“There is nothing like mulled wine on a cold winter’s day,” Zoisite replied firmly. “And made with a fine red like this, it will be amazing. Spicy and sweet and a single glass will warm you up from head to toe.”
Jupiter thought of Serenity, giggling outside with her love as snowflakes fell, silver-on-silver, on her hair and eyelashes, of Nephrite chopping wood outside to stoke fires, and smiled, cheeks pinkening perhaps from the wine. She let Zoisite show her how to grate the peels of oranges and sift in a small amount of dark brown sugar into the pot with the wine and the brandy and the spices he had laid out. Within minutes, as the mixture began to warm, the kitchen was filled with delectable scents of citron and cinnamon and nutmeg, and every few moments, Zoisite would taste a spoonful of the simmering wine, giving her increasingly cheerful pointers on what to do next.
Finally, it was done, and Zoisite’s face was flushed, his sandy-blond curls mussed and frizzing slightly from the steam rising from the pot. “Now you let it cool a little, but of course not too much! Just enough to drink it without burning your mouth! And you put it in a punch bowl. Not a glass one, because glass sometimes shatters when filled with hot liquids. Which is strange, because usually you drink wine in a glass. But this is mulled wine, so it is different, you see. Regular wine you don’t drink hot-- though I think in Jadeite’s kingdom there is a liquor called sake that is often heated before consumption. It isn’t for Yule, though. This is better.”
Jupiter sampled a glass for herself, and the combination of hot, spicy wine and Zoisite’s giddy ramble had her giggling. Her hands were not completely steady as she poured the contents of the pot into a punch bowl-- bright white ceramic with a golden rim-- and a little bit splashed onto the table. Both her and Zoisite reached for a dish-rag at the same time, and because both of them were slightly tipsy, they collided, his nose hitting her collarbone, the rag flying onto the floor.
The door of the kitchen opened, revealing Nephrite, who carried an axe in one hand while the other brushed flecks of snow from his furry robes. Zoisite caught sight of his fellow guardian as he moved his face away from the vicinity of Jupiter’s bosom, and, with a reckless sort of cheekiness that was likely a result of the alcohol, grinned at the bigger man. “It was an accident,” he told Nephrite in a beatifically innocent voice. “I taught her how to make mulled wine! Just for you! If you use the axe on me you’ll get blood all over the kitchen and Endymion will be mad!”