Piment
(Spiced White Wine)

Perceval, the Story of the Grail Written by Chrétien de Troyes, late twelfth century

1 (750 ml) bottle of dry white wine

Fresh herbs of your choosing

Combine the wine and herbs in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from heat and let the wine cool completely.

Pour each individual serving into a cocktail shaker, fill it two-thirds of the way with ice, and shake until chilled.

Strain into a Champagne flute or coupe and enjoy.

And spiced wine they drank; piment,

Without sweet honey or pepper blent;

Descriptions of banquets in medieval texts can be lengthy, depicting every sumptuous dish in detail. This late twelfth-century French poem is no exception, though it’s mainly concerned with the quest for the Holy Grail, that most famous of objects from the King Arthur tales. Here, we have a fantastic feast accompanied by a spiced wine known as piment, a preparation that probably dates back to Ancient Rome. The poem here tells us that this particular piment was not blended with honey or black pepper, meaning that other spices were used. White or red wine was used to make piment; this recipe calls for a dry white wine.