Our Mulled Wine Recipe

This just screams festive to me. Not sure why exactly. Maybe it’s the deep garnet color and the mingling scents of spices and fruit…of course it could also be the alcohol and how it seeps into every cold cell of your body to make your cheeks flush and your toes tingle.

Ah well, whatever the reason, mulled wine is a wonderful drink to have on hand at an autumn or winter party. Make it in a crockpot or a big Dutch oven on your stove top, put a ladle in it and let your guests help themselves all day or evening long. They’ll be very appreciative. : )

Our Mulled Wine Recipe

• 1 750-ml bottle of a full-bodied red wine
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
• cinnamon sticks
• whole cloves
• grated fresh nutmeg (or the regular ol’ kind in the bottle)
• orange slices
• apple slices
• a square of cheesecloth
• other spices that strike your fancy (star of anise is a nice addition)

Don’t let the cheesecloth scare you. You’ll only use it to tie up any whole spices that you use (cloves and grated nutmeg, for example). Rest assured that you can use ground spices instead and the result will still be fabulous…the wine will just be a bit cloudy, that’s all.  This is only an issue if a) you’ll be serving the mulled wine in clear mugs and 2) if cloudy mulled wine really bothers you.

So, how to make it? Throw everything into a large pot, stir, and let it simmer very gently over low heat for about an hour. Keep an eye on it and stir occasionally. Just don’t let it boil!

Tagged as: alcoholic drinks, apples, autumn, drinks, hot drinks, wine