Red Mulled Wine – Basic Recipe

Nothing says cozy winter evenings like a warm glass of red mulled wine. With just a few ingredients and a little time on the stove, you’ll have a fragrant winter drink that’s sure to impress your guests!

I truly believe that every foodie should have a basic recipe for red mulled wine. Basic parameters will serve us primarily as an orientation when making this drink because today there are so many excellent wines available that one and the same recipe cannot be applied to all wines blindly.

Origins of Mulled Wine

How did we come to associate mulled wine with Christmas and holidays?

It seems that Charles Dickens, who in his novella “A Christmas Carol” from 1843, spoke about a version of mulled wine called Smoking Bishop is somewhat to blame for this.

Today, if we take a closer look at the cuisine of European countries, we will see that the Swedes have their glögg, the Germans glühwein, the Bulgarians greyano vino, the French vin chaud, etc. In Croatia, this drink is called kuhano vino.

All these recipes come down, more or less, to the same thing: infusing wine with different aromas from spices and citrus, with the addition of sugar, dried fruit, honey, and sometimes other alcoholic beverages such as rum, whiskey, or cognac.

Ingredients for Red Mulled Wine

Check out the recipe card at the end of this post. It has the exact amounts of ingredients and detailed recipe instructions! 

• Red wine – this is the base of the recipe. Choose a dry red wine with fruity undertones.
• Water and orange juice – adding water to red mulled wine may seem odd but since we in Croatia like to enjoy it in large quantities, this step reduces the alcohol content, making it easier to enjoy over a longer period without becoming too strong. The orange juice adds a bit more fruity flavor.
• Sugar – go simple here. Plain white sugar will sweeten the wine without affecting its aroma. Depending on how sweet you want your red mulled wine to be, I recommend not adding all sugar at the beginning.
• Spices – I use whole cardamom pods, star anise, cinnamon stick, and cloves. They give depth and richness to the red mulled wine and are key to achieving good flavor.
• Rum – adds a touch of richness and warmth.
• Orange – you will need half of the organic orange that will be sliced in the wine. It will give fresh and bright flavor to the mulled wine.

How to Make Red Mulled Wine(Step-by-Step)

STEP 1: Combine all ingredients in a pot

Add all ingredients in a pot. Be careful about adding all sugar at once. You can always add more later during the tasting.

STEP 2: Simmer the wine

Cook on very low heat, uncovered, for about 20 minutes. Don’t let it boil, it should just reach a simmering point.

STEP 3: Taste, adjust and serve

When mulled wine is cooked and you’re satisfied with its flavor, turn off the heat and serve immediately.

4 Tips For Making The Perfect Red Mulled Wine

There are 4 things you should pay attention to when you’re trying to make mulled wine:

• Choosing your wine wisely – use a dry red wine that you would normally drink during your dinner/lunch. Nothing too expensive nor too cheap. Certainly not those cheapest wines that you will try to disguise with a bunch of cinnamon and sugar. Trust me, it won’t work. If it’s not good from the bottle, it won’t be good mulled too.
• Mulling spices – adjust them to the type of wine you’re going to use (red or white), but don’t use too many spices. I was guilty of this until I realized that less is simply more. Also, I prefer using whole instead of ground spices to avoid that “floury” taste in the mouth.
• Cooking process – avoid cooking the wine on very high heat. The mulled wine should be on the verge of boiling all the time (but not boiling), and it is enough to simmer it for about 20 minutes. The longer you cook it, the stronger the aromas of spices and citrus will be present.
• Sweetener – good, old white sugar is a classic and you can’t go wrong with it. You can also experiment with brown sugar, such as demerara. Personally, I would avoid maple syrup, honey, and similar liquid sweeteners because they can have a predominant aroma.

The Best Red Wine For Making Mulled Wine

When it comes to varietals of red wines, my personal favorites for mulled wine would be local varieties like Plavac Mali, Frankovka, Teran, and Vranac but you can also opt for Merlot or Cabernet.

There are a few different ways to make mulled wine. This time I chose the simpler version, which I find the most practical and straightforward, but there are also other options.

One of them is to first make a simple, spiced syrup that is then cooked with the red wine of your choice. This is a good trick if you want to have things prepared in advance – you can make the syrup a few days in advance and keep it in the fridge until you need it. If you don’t want to make syrup, you can put the spices for the mulled wine in a muslin cloth and then in a decorative fabric and tie it to a bottle of wine that you will proudly gift to your loved ones – I bet that that bottle of wine won’t collect dust for too long.

This is a great idea for an edible Christmas gift.

What To Do With Leftover Mulled Wine

If by some crazy chance, you have any leftover mulled wine, please don’t throw it down your sink. You can do so many things with this wonderful liquid!

Here are just some ideas on how to use mulled wine in other recipes:

• Reduce it to syrup
• Add it to sponge cake or in cream for making a Christmas cake
• Use it to poach fruit
• Make sorbet or ice cream
• Enrich different sauces and savory dishes with it

How To Reheat Mulled Wine

If you don’t want to use it for cooking, you can reheat the mulled wine the next day. Let it cool completely, remove the spices and orange slices, transfer the wine to a smaller pot, cover it with a lid, and put it in the fridge.

When you want to drink it again, take it out of the fridge, heat it over low heat, and serve it just like you would do with freshly prepared mulled wine.

More Holiday Recipes

• 8 EDIBLE HOMEMADE FOOD CHRISTMAS GIFTS
• CAROB AND ORANGE BUNDT CAKE
• RASPBERRY LINZER COOKIES
• HOW TO MAKE YOUR HOME SMELL LIKE CHRISTMAS
• RASPBERRY BRIOCHE BABKA RECIPE

If you try this or any other recipe from the blog, leave a comment and rating on this post or tag @foodandmoodblog in your posts on social media. For video recipes, subscribe to my YouTube channel!