Thirsty Thursday
Our Favourite Mulled Wine
This is what is currently looks like outside:
A fairly debilitating snow storm – the first of the season – has hit Toronto pretty hard.
Well, what can you do, eh, but suck it up and put on a steaming pot of mulled wine. But not just any mulled wine will do. Being of German (mom’s side) and English/Scottish (dad’s side) descent, we’re fairly picky when it comes to hot wine punch. Call it glühwein, gløgg, or glögi, despite the questionably marketable names, when done right these spiced wines can be spicy and sweet and robust – all the things a hot cocktail should be.
Mulled wine has a long, long history dating back to the ancient Romans and really flaring into popularity in jolly old England around the time of the Tudors – it’s pure speculation on our part, but one can assume hanging out in dank, dark castles called for a steaming glass of booze and spice strong enough to ward off a plague or two.
Today, mulled wine is sold by street vendors in Europe during the winter months to fortify pedestrians from the drizzly, damp cold. As you can likely discern from the umlauts and slashes through vowels, spiced wine is very popular in Nordic countries like Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Germany. It’s also a favoured beverage in the German-themed Christmas markets of modern Britain.
The ingredients for mulled wine vary by country and, quite frankly, by taste. Generally, it’s a combination of red wine, baking spices like cloves and cinnamon, citrus, a bit of sugar, and frequently a spirit.
Some may choose to fortify the wine with vodka (which we’ve never figured out), others with apple cider, and others still opt for a dram of brandy. We like port. But more about that later. Raisins always seem to be a polarizing issue, and they are here, as well. While some home barkeeps insist raisins make the mulled wine, others staunchly avoid them.
The good news about mixing liquors, spices and fruit into your wine stew, is that you can get away with a less expensive wine. We would still avoid utter plonk, for the same reasons we don’t use freezer burnt beef in bouef bourguignon: garbage in, is garbage out and next thing you know your friends and colleagues are remembering your mulled wine with the same shudder that you recall the cupful of crappy gløgg Margarie in accounting ladled you at last year’s office party.
Playing around with ingredients over the years, we prefer to sweeten the Glückwein with port over sugar or honey, and keep the price of the wine under $15 as we’re just heating it up. We say heating – not boiling – as boiled wine is just gross. Also because of the gentle simmering, we find extra spices are needed to get that warm, spicy kick.
Mulled Wine
- 1 Orange, juiced and peeled (reserve peel)
- 1 lemon peel
- 3 star anise
- 10 whole cloves
- whole cardamom pods
- 3 sticks cinnamon
- 1/2 cup port
- 1 bottle red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon
Using a vegetable peeler, peel the orange and lemon into thick strips, and stud the peel with cloves. Put all ingredients into a pot and gently warm over low-medium heat, being careful not to boil. Let the flavours infuse for 15 minutes or so, strain and serve in heat-proof mugs.