​Your friendly neighborhood wine guy here again with a holiday update. With winter nearly upon us, I’ve received a few questions about mulled wine and preparing for the holidays. You will surely start seeing – if you haven’t already – holiday gift guides from the LCBO, SAQ, and all kinds of articles about mulled wine and other festive beverages. In the LCBO’s Food & Drink Magazine 2023 Holiday Edition, contributor Christine Sismondo described some of the history and variations of mulled wine found around the world, along with a few recipes. My post below is largely pulled from that article, since it was so well-written, with a few updates based on my own attempts at making mulled wine over the last 2 years.
 
At holiday gatherings around the world, many hosts greet guests with a mulled wine drink that provides comfort and joy. Whether it’s a mug of Glögg served up at a Christmas Market in Sweden or a family in Japan celebrating the New Year with a ritual that revolves around steeped sake, almost everywhere you go in the world, you’ll find a local holiday mulled wine tradition. Its roots are believed to go back to the taverns of ancient Rome, which specialized in a warm drink made with honey, dates, seasoning and, of course, wine. Since many taverns doubled as rest stops, it’s hardly surprising that one surviving recipe was titled “Spiced Wine for Travelers.” And travel it did. Over the next 2,000 years, mulled wine spread across the globe and, everywhere it landed, was adopted and tweaked by locals, who added their own flourish to make it unique.
 
You can mull almost anything: cocktails, beer and even sake! In Japan, many families drink Toso, an herb-forward sake steeped with sansho pepper, ginger and rhubarb, on the first day of the New Year. It’s supposed to usher in good fortune for the remaining 364 days of the year. Some other ideas for your own celebrations are presented below.
 
Wassail – England’s mulled cider
Although mulled wine rules London at Christmas, in the Southwest of England, aka “orchard country,” you’re more likely to run into Wassail, a spiced mulled cider tradition established roughly 1,000 years ago. Every year, on Twelfth Night, townsfolk used to visit the local orchards, where they would sing and drink toasts to the trees, all the while banging pots and pans to ward off any evil spirits that might threaten next year’s crop. Although scaring away malevolent forces with a noisy “hullabaloo” has taken a backseat to general well-wishing, it’s still quite common to celebrate the end of the year and bring good tidings to friends and neighbors over a cup of Wassail.
 
Vinho Quente – the mulled, fortified wines of Portugal and Brazil
There are dozens of regional variations and twists on Vinho Quente, Portugal’s answer to mulled wine, but the farther north you travel, the more likely you are to encounter Porto Quente, which is made with the country’s famous fortified wine, port. Since the process of fortification (which was invented to improve the shelf life of wine) often involves the addition of a little sugar, mulled port recipes generally call for a little less sugar and, on occasion, a splash of Portugal’s gorgeous pink “rosado” wine. Brazil’s mulled wine is also called Vinho Quente but has evolved into an entirely different recipe, one that calls for local fruits and the country’s famous sugar cane spirit, cachaça.
 
Greece’s mulled white wine
Although the Romans are generally credited with the invention of mulled wine, evidence suggests a similar technique involving honey and spice was in play in ancient Greece even earlier. It is thought, though, that this mulled wine practice was less about mixology and more about salvaging old wine. It has evolved, of course, and although Greek mulled wine might have got its start as a zero-waste project, contemporary incarnations in Greece are often made with the country’s world famous fresh and crisp white wines, a refreshing twist on heavier mulled red wine recipes.
 
Ponche Navideño
In Mexico, it’s not Christmas (or New Year’s, for that matter) unless there’s a pot of Ponche Navideño simmering away and filling the house with the aroma of fruit and canela (a specific type of cinnamon). To say it’s essential to the holidays is no exaggeration, either. For decades, the tejocote (a relative of the crabapple), one of the drink’s key ingredients, was the most-smuggled fruit across the U.S.-Mexico border (back when it was prohibited in the States). Happily, tejocote is no longer forbidden fruit!
 
Additional names and flavours of mulled wine around the world
Bulgaria – Greyano Vino – Wine, honey, peppercorns
France – Vin Chaud – Wine, oranges, spice and occasionally Cognac
Chile – Vino Navegado – Wine, spices and fruit, flambéed right before serving
Germany – Glühwein – Similar to Glögg but usually more minimalist
Quebec – Caribou – Wine, Canadian whisky and maple syrup
 
Recipes
For the Portuguese and Mexican mulled wine recipes described above, along with access to the rest of the magazine, go here.
For similar takes on what I tend to make at home:
-Red: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/mulled-wine-recipe/#tasty-recipes-61790

• This is similar to traditional vin chaud or Glühwein. The recipe uses dry red wine, a spirit, some form of sweetener, and all the classic holiday spices and citrus. Very straightforward and very festive (at least, to me). You can modify the exact proportions to your taste (some recipes will put less clove and more cinnamon, for example). Just make sure to avoid serving any of the solids into folks’ cups, or they might get an unpleasant surprise.

-White: https://www.sugarsalted.com/apple-mulled-white-wine/#recipe

• This one is fun. Many mulled white wine recipes will be like the one above for red, but just substitute the type of wine, somewhat like what was described about Greece’s contemporary mulled wine. For me, the best mulled white wine is completely different, as this recipe shows. With a strong leaning towards apple flavors, this person uses apple juice, sliced apple, and cinnamon to achieve a different flavor profile. My only modifications to this would be to add a spirit like Calvados or Rum to fortify the mix (and complement the flavors), and maybe reduce the sugar since there’s already apple juice (which is likely to be sweet). You could also use honey or maple syrup here instead of straight sugar. This version will be closer to Wassail (described above) than to traditional mulled red wine.

 
Disclaimer: if you cannot (or do not wish to) consume alcohol, a warm beverage of your choice will be every bit as comforting as mulled wine. My personal preference is for either hot chocolate or hot apple cider when mulled wine is not available. If you do choose to imbibe, please do so responsibly. Please do not drink & drive (or attempt to put up Griswold-family-style Christmas lights).
 
I hope you enjoyed this special edition of Wine with Etienne. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season ahead!

​
Traditional Thanksgiving
Turkey Dinner (stuffing, cranberry sauce, etc.)
Or
Ham / Pork with all the fixings
Beaujolais
A style of red wine from France, made using the Gamay grape. It tends to be light-bodied with medium acidity and little tannin. It is fruity with some floral and earthy notes, depending on the producer.

Pinot Noir
Traditionally from France but is planted in many parts of the world. Like Beaujolais, it is on the lighter side, with high acidity and soft tannins. A North American Pinot will have notes of raspberry, tart cherry, plum, smoke, spice, and a hint of earthiness.

Zinfandel / Primitivo
A full-bodied fruity red mostly grown in California and Italy. Little acidity and plenty of tannin. This is a particularly good pairing for a typical Thanksgiving meal; a Lodi-produced “Zin” will taste of raspberry jam, peach preserves, baking spice and hickory/smoke, often with very smooth tannins.

Gewürztraminer
White grape traditionally grown in Germany and France. It often produces off-dry, medium-bodied white wines with little acid and no tannin. Pairs best with meals that are spicy or sweet to begin with (e.g., sweet potato). The flavors range from tropical fruit (lychee) to warm spice (like ginger) via floral (rose) notes.

Riesling (dry to off-dry)
Another white grape traditionally grown in Germany and France. It can be made with a range of sweetness, but the best for pairing will be dry or off-dry. This quintessential light-bodied acidic white wine offers notes of green apple, lemon, and minerality (limestone or even gasoline).

Sparkling white, rosé, or Syrah/Shiraz
There are many different types of sparkling wine; the key here is the acid and effervescence helping to lighten an otherwise heavy meal. A brut or rosé style of sparkling wine, like Cava, Champagne, or Crémant, should prove to match well. If you can find it, a sparkling Shiraz in a dry or off-dry style could be a special treat with a turkey dinner.

Plant-based
Sauvignon Blanc
Torrontés (Argentina)
Pecorino (Italy)
Pinot Gris/Grigio
Chardonnay (cooler climate, ideally unoaked)
Rosé (dry)
​
If your fall cooking is mostly (or entirely) vegetarian/vegan, there are plenty of wines that go with grilled vegetables, salads, and similar dishes. Most of them are white or pink. You’re looking for just about any level of acidity, as long as the wine is light and dry and not less acidic or sweet than the dishes you’re serving.
The grapes listed to the left will give you a great pairing for things like goat (or vegan) cheese, vegetable skewers, and salads.

Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Sweet Potato Pie, Apple Pie, or your preferred fall/winter dessert.
 
(Note: Halloween candy not recommended)
Riesling Beerenauslese (BA) or TBA (Germany)
Icewine (Canada, Austria, Germany)
Tokaji (Hungary)
Sauternes (France)
Muscat (France and others)
Madeira
Port (White, Ruby, or Tawny)
A good Dessert wine, while high in sugar, will also have high levels of acidity and lower levels of alcohol than table wine. Some Fortified wines can also pair with various desserts, but the alcohol content will be much higher.
The list to the left is a mix of dessert wine and fortified wine, in order from least to most alcoholic (expected). They all have 2 things in common: They tend to be quite sweet (100+ g/L of sugar), and have high levels of acid, making them refreshing despite their sweetness and allowing for long periods of aging.
The wine you pick from here will highly depend on what dessert you’re pairing to, since they all have different flavour profiles. Just remember, the sweeter the dessert, the sweeter your wine needs to be if you actually want to taste it.

​Dear Readers,
I hope you all had a good summer and are ready for the transition into fall. For many, this is the start of another school year, and what better way to celebrate than with wine!
Of course, children should not be consuming alcohol, and as much as teachers might need a drink at the end of their day (not because of your kids, obviously), this seems like the perfect time to dive into a current hot topic: non-alcoholic ‘wines’!
“What? Your first blog post for Trio and it’s not even about alcohol?!” you may have just shouted into your phone or computer screen. Yes, that’s correct. Not only because it’s an important topic for folks who want to limit their alcohol consumption (for any number of reasons), but because there is something fascinating about the variety of products that have been created to try to replicate the flavours of wine and provide pairing options for food without the effects of alcohol. So, with that, let’s dive deeper into the world of non-alcoholic wine: what it is, how it’s made, and why it’s important.
First, we must recognize that not all non-alcoholic or “0%” wines are created equal. There are 2 main categories for these types of beverages:

• De-alcoholised wine
• So-called wine “alternatives”

De-alcoholised wine is something you can find in a lot of grocery stores and liquor stores. These are typically wines made by wineries to supplement their product portfolio and reach an audience of people who either cannot consume alcohol or may not want to on a particular occasion. They usually come it at around 0.5% abv, the legal limit for calling something “non-alcoholic” in many countries. They are made from a nearly finished wine – perhaps a Sauvignon Blanc that could otherwise be sold as a normal table wine – but the alcohol is reduced before bottling, usually using one of 3 methods: adding water (uncommon for full alcohol removal because of how it impacts flavour and texture), reverse osmosis, or by the use of a “spinning cone” device that separates alcohol from the other components of the wine. The result is a wine with nearly no alcohol but some of the same flavours as a normal wine. The biggest impacts of the loss of alcohol – other than reduction in flavour intensity – are to texture and shelf-life, since alcohol both provides body and acts as a preservative. This means that non-alc wines won’t keep nearly as long as normal wines and are therefore likely to have some extra ingredients added: glycerine, gum arabic, or sugar to enhance texture; sulfites and/or sugar for shelf-life (these two are present in many wines, as well, though not always as an additive). This means that sometimes, non-alcoholic wines are a bit sweet rather than dry, and this can impact your pairing options. Leitz (Germany), Giesen (New Zealand), and Thomson & Scott (UK) are just a few examples of wine producers who make de-alcoholised wine, and there are many others.
Wine alternatives are created with the end goal of 0 alcohol in mind. They are not necessarily made using grapes at all, and a producer’s decision to ferment is more about naturally adding some bubbles for texture towards the end of production than developing any alcohol (much like with kombucha, for example). These products are often from some combination of juices, teas, and blends of other flavouring components. The complexity of flavours and ratio of acids to sugars helps mimic a complex, well-balanced wine, and the best examples make for excellent food pairings. Proxies (based in Guelph) make some that I really like, and right here in Ottawa, Checkers! has recently begun producing a few that I’ve enjoyed, too. There are many, many producers trying their hand at building the perfect wine alternative, and it is fun to explore what different approaches they take and the end results.
So, why do these wines exist, and why are they important? There is a significant market for low- and no-alcohol wines, especially among younger consumers. This has been a trend for several years now, with a general movement towards lighter styles as global tastes shift and alcohol becomes less central to social gatherings. A greater focus on health – with some claims that calories are lower in non-alcoholic wines (this is proven true in some cases but is not universal) – has also resulted in more low- and no-alcohol options being offered. And we can’t forget the very important fact that some folks simply cannot or prefer not to drink alcohol at all – whether temporarily or in general – yet still want to have something more interesting, complex, and food-focused than simple soft drinks. De-alcoholised wines and wine alternatives offer this possibility to a wide range of consumers.
As for where to pick up these kinds of products, because they’re non-alcoholic, you don’t need to go to a liquor store to get them (though some do sell them, which is great if you’re shopping for a large gathering). Many grocery stores and online retailers carry non-alcoholic beverages, and it’s also a great opportunity to support local small businesses in your area who produce and/or sell them (believe me, there are a lot of them).
Whatever you end up picking in this category, I don’t have to tell you to drink responsibly. But, if you throw a back-to-school party, please do the right thing and offer an alcoholic option to your adult guests as well. 😉
Take care everyone and have a great start to the fall!
 
Etienne Martin
Consulting Sommelier and Occasional Blogger
Trio Bistro & Lounge