Ingredients

　　2 pounds (about 4) oranges, each cut into 16 pieces

　　Two 750-ml bottles dry white wine

　　1 cup sugar

　　1/4 cup Cognac

　　Garnish: long strips of orange zest removed with a vegetable peeler

　　In a large bowl, combine the oranges and the wine and chill the mixture, covered tightly with plastic wrap, for 5 days. Discard the oranges, add the sugar and the Cognac, and stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Strain the mixture through a sieve lined with a double thickness of rinsed and squeezed cheesecloth into a bowl and pour the wine into decorative bottles with corks. Insert a strip of the orange zest into each bottle and chill the wine, corked, for one week. The wine keeps, chilled for 3 months.