This mulled wine recipe is ideal for the vacations! Simmered with citrus, apple cider, and warming spices, it is cozy, festive, and scrumptious.
Jack and I like to make this mulled wine recipe through the vacation season. Full of notes of citrus, apple, and fragrant spices, it’s cozy, flavorful, and festive. Sipping a steaming mug of it’s one of the simplest ways to heat up on a chilly winter evening.
This mulled wine is the proper drink for vacation events. For one, the recipe is straightforward to scale up or down relying on the dimensions of your group. It additionally makes your kitchen odor wonderful. The heady, spiced aroma by itself is motive sufficient to strive it!
What’s mulled wine?
Mulled wine is a sizzling wine drink made by simmering wine with spices and infrequently a sweetener akin to honey, maple syrup, or brown sugar.
Mulled wine has roots in historical Rome and is now well-liked all through Europe, particularly through the vacation season and at Christmas markets. This boozy drink goes by many names. Relying on whether or not you’re in France, Sweden, or Austria, you may hear it known as vin chaud, glogg, or glühwein. And the record of names goes on!
This festive beverage is broadly loved for a motive. Fruity and richly spiced, it’s warming, comforting, and scrumptious. Attempt it this vacation season!
Mulled Wine Elements
Right here’s what you’ll must make this mulled wine recipe:
- Wine, in fact! – Crimson is most conventional for mulled wine. I like to recommend utilizing a medium to full-bodied purple wine akin to Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Syrah. No want to interrupt the financial institution right here. Since you’ll be including so many different elements to the wine, a cheap—however nonetheless first rate—bottle will work simply nice.
- Recent oranges – I simmer the wine with orange juice and zest, and I all the time serve it with orange slices for garnish.
- Apple cider – As a substitute of including sugar to this recipe, I sweeten it naturally with apple cider. I like the best way its candy and tangy taste performs off the spices, wine, and orange juice.
- Mulling spices – Cinnamon sticks, entire cloves, and star anise infuse the mulled wine with wealthy, heat taste.
- Ginger juice – I record it as optionally available (the recipe continues to be nice with out it!), however add it if you happen to can. It provides the mulled wine a scrumptious spicy kick.
- Festive garnishes – No, you don’t have to prime your glass with recent rosemary and cranberries, however I hope you do. 🙂 They make this mulled wine further festive and fairly.
Discover the entire recipe with measurements beneath.
Recipe Variations
- Make it boozier. Many recipes name for brandy or orange liqueur along with wine. If you happen to’d like yours to have a boozier kick, be at liberty so as to add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of both.
- Attempt completely different spices. Toss in just a few allspice berries or cardamom pods together with the cloves, cinnamon, and/or star anise.
The best way to Make Mulled Wine
This mulled wine recipe is straightforward to make! Right here’s what you must do:
First, put together the orange. Use a vegetable peeler to slice 3 to 4 strips of zest off half an orange. Slice the opposite half into rounds, and reserve them for garnish.
Then, simmer. Squeeze the juice from the zested orange half right into a medium saucepan. Add the wine, apple cider, orange peel, and spices. Deliver the combination to a low simmer over medium warmth. Scale back the warmth and simmer for 20 to half-hour.
- Tip: Deliver the wine to a simmer, however don’t let it boil! Doing so will prepare dinner off the alcohol.
Subsequent, style and modify. The key to creating the most effective mulled wine is adjusting the flavour to your liking. Add the ginger juice, if utilizing, and style. If you would like your wine sweeter, add extra apple cider. If you would like it extra spiced, add further cinnamon, cloves, and/or star anise and let it simmer on the range for an additional quarter-hour.
Lastly, pressure and luxuriate in. As soon as you like the flavour, take away the spiced wine from the warmth. Pressure it to take away the spices, orange peel, and any separated apple cider solids. Pour into mugs, garnish, and luxuriate in!
Cheers, mates!
Storage
Mulled wine is greatest when it’s freshly made, so if you happen to’re serving it for a gathering, I like to recommend making it proper beforehand.
If in case you have leftovers, enable them to chill to room temperature. Then, seal them in an hermetic container or jar and retailer them within the fridge for as much as 2 days. Reheat gently on the stovetop.
Extra Favourite Vacation Drinks
Feeling festive? Have a good time the season with considered one of these vacation drinks subsequent:

Mulled Wine
Serves 6
Have a good time the vacation season with this mulled wine recipe! Simmered with orange, apple cider, and warming spices, this sizzling wine drink is filled with festive taste.
- 1 medium orange
- 1 (750-ml) bottle dry purple wine, akin to merlot
- 2 cups apple cider, plus extra as desired
- 10 entire cloves
- 8 entire star anise
- 6 entire cinnamon sticks, plus extra for serving
- 2 to 4 tablespoons ginger juice, to style (optionally available)
- Rosemary sprigs, for garnish
- Cranberries, for garnish, optionally available
Forestall your display screen from going darkish
-
Use a vegetable peeler to peel 3 to 4 strips of zest off half of the orange. Slice the remaining half into skinny rounds and put aside for garnish.
-
In a medium saucepan over medium warmth, mix the purple wine, apple cider, and the juice from the zested ½ orange. Add the orange zest, cloves, star anise, and cinnamon sticks. Deliver to a simmer, then cut back the warmth and simmer on low for 20 to half-hour. Watch out to not let it come to a boil.
-
Stir within the ginger juice, if utilizing. Style, and if you happen to like your mulled wine sweeter, add extra apple cider. If you happen to prefer it extra spiced, add extra entire spices and simmer for 15 extra minutes.
-
Take away from the warmth, pressure, and pour right into a pitcher or mugs. Serve with the reserved orange rounds and cinnamon sticks. Garnish with rosemary sprigs and cranberries, if desired.