Mulled wine is a sweet wintertime beverage, especially delicious on a cold winter night. It’s made by heating wine and mulling spices so the flavors combine into a delicious, warm, spice-packed beverage. We make it here at the San Antonio Winery every holiday season for our guests to enjoy. We’d like to share our newest mulled wine recipe with you to enjoy on those chilly winter nights.
Mulled wine can be made a number of different ways with numerous types of wines and spices. Traditionally, it consists of a dry red wine, cinnamon, cloves, citrus, ginger, bay leaf, saffron, and dates. In ancient Greek times, mulled wine was created to prevent the portion of grapes that didn’t make it to the harvest from spoiling. They would infuse it with spices for flavoring and serve it warm.
Our mulled wine recipe uses our Maddalena Merlot, La Quinta Syrah Port, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, orange, and star anise. It can be made on the stove top or even in a slow cooker. Give our simple mulled wine recipe a try. The simmering spices will make your whole house smell like the holidays!
Ingredients (yields 9 servings)
• 1 (750-ml) bottle Maddalena Merlot
• 375 ml (½ of a 750-ml bottle) of La Quinta Syrah Port
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 4 whole cloves
• handful of fresh cranberries
• 1 orange, zested and juiced
• 3 star anise
• cinnamon sticks (for garnish)
Directions
Combine Merlot, port wine, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cranberries, orange zest, orange juice, and star anise in a large pot. Bring to a boil and immediately reduce heat to simmer for 20 minutes. Serve warm in mugs or mason jars and garnish with a cinnamon stick.