Holiday Season - Mulled Wine

​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!