Simple Mulled Wine Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep the alcohol content in mulled wine? ›

The heat used in mulling encourages greater flavours from the citrus and the spices but also reduces the alcohol content, hence the common addition of a slug of spirit or liqueur just before serving.

Mulling Spices

Each recommended using about a tablespoon of mulling spice per 750 ml bottle of wine, which I toasted briefly in a skillet before adding to the wine.

Thoroughly mash fruit, add four crushed Campden tablets, cover with cheesecloth and allow container to stand four hours at room temperature. Add 10 cups sugar syrup, lemon juice, tea and yeast and allow seven days to ferment at a temperature between 60-70º F, stirring thoroughly twice daily.

(Edit: To minimize bitterness, I recommend peeling the orange before simmering it in the wine.) Cinnamon: I love the making mulled wine with cinnamon sticks, but you could whisk in some ground cinnamon if that's what you have on hand.

Mulled Wine Recipe

Just be careful that you don't boil the wine or leave it on the heat for an extended period – otherwise all the alcohol will burn off. If you feel like making a version with a bit more complexity, many people also add sloe gin, brandy or orange liqueur to their mulled wine.

Hotter temps will burn off more alcohol, and a bigger pan with more surface area will produce the same result. As a reference, here's a helpful rule of thumb: After 30 minutes of cooking, alcohol content decreases by 10 percent with each successive half-hour of cooking, up to 2 hours.

Method. Put the red wine, cinnamon, star anise, cloves, lemon zest and sugar in a large pan. Cook on a low heat for 10 mins. Remove from the heat and cool, leaving to infuse for about 30 mins.

Make All of It Ahead of Time

Then let the mulled wine cool at room temperature, transfer it to an airtight container, and store it in the fridge — it will keep well there for up to three days.

The cheapest method is to add a juice/sugar source to provide nutrients for the yeast's fermentation metabolic system. To make 1 gallon of homemade wine, you will need to purchase 2 cans of frozen juice concentrate from the grocery store. Red Grape Juice – This is by far the most successful juice I have tried.

What are the 7 steps of the wine making process? ›

You need to infuse the wine long enough with the spices to take on their flavour but DON'T ON ANY ACCOUNT LET THE MIXTURE BOIL as you'll be left with a bitter taste. Slow and low is the way to go. And it shouldn't be served piping hot, just comfortably - and comfortingly - warm.

The best red wine to use for mulled wine is Merlot, Zinfandel or Garnacha (also called Grenache). These wines are dark, fruity and full bodied, which means they can support all of the flavors we'll be adding. Look for labels that describe the wine as “jammy” or with “notes of vanilla.”

Either some carbon dioxide was trapped inside when the wine was bottled, or the wine started to re-ferment while in the bottle, and the bubbles are a byproduct. A little fizz won't make you sick, but I find it unpleasant, and it usually comes with a yeasty stink.

Warming the mulled wine in a slow cooker makes the recipe super hands-off and removes the risk of cooking all of the alcohol out of the beverage. Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker, turn to low until hot, then reduce to warm. To let the flavors develop, let the mixture mull for at least two hours before serving.

With the goal of consuming the alcohol, any evaporated alcohol is a small affront to the holiday season. But fear not, hot cider, hot toddy, and mulled wine lovers: Around 85 percent of your beloved alcohol will survive the heating process.

To make a lower-alcohol wine, the most direct way is to pick grapes when they are less ripe. Less ripe means less sugar, which will convert to less alcohol. After fermentation, there are some fancy ways to dial back levels of alcohol, including spinning cones and reverse osmosis.

The science: Alcohol does partially evaporate during cooking, but not as much as you might think. Depending on the cooking method and how much alcohol is used, anywhere from 4 to 85 percent of the alcohol may remain. After 15 minutes of cooking, about 40 percent of the alcohol remains.