Mulled Wine

European Christmas spiced red wine with whole cloves, cinnamon, star anise and orange, sweetened with honey and served hot

Origin: Northern Europe: Germany, Alsace & Britain

From the journey of Cloves.

Mulled wine (Glühwein in German, vin chaud in French, glögg in Scandinavian) is the drink most identified with the European Christmas market tradition, and it is also, in its structural logic, the direct descendant of the Roman conditum paradoxum: spiced wine sweetened with honey, drunk warm. The Roman recipe passed through the medieval European spiced wine tradition (hippocras, piment) and arrived in the nineteenth century as the Christmas drinks we now know, transformed by the Dutch VOC's democratisation of spices in the seventeenth century, which made cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg cheap enough to be added to a pot of wine without financial drama. Cloves are the essential spice of mulled wine (their warmth, sweetness, and slightly medicinal depth are what make heated wine feel like medicine as well as pleasure, which is the cultural function of mulled wine in the cold climates of northern Europe. The Christmas markets of Strasbourg, Nuremberg, and Cologne) which date in documented form to the fourteenth century: serve mulled wine in ceramic mugs that carry a deposit, guaranteeing their return, in a ritual of warmth and sociability that the clove has been facilitating since the Han Dynasty courtiers held it in their mouths before addressing the emperor.

Ingredients

Wine

  • 750 ml full-bodied red wine (an inexpensive Merlot, Côtes du Rhône, or Dornfelder)
  • 150 ml ruby port or sloe gin (optional: deepens the flavour)
  • 200 ml orange juice (freshly squeezed)

Sweetener

  • 3 tbsp runny honey, plus more to taste
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar

Spices

  • 10 whole cloves
  • 2 cinnamon sticks
  • 3 star anise
  • 8 whole black peppercorns
  • 4 green cardamom pods, lightly cracked
  • 1 orange, sliced into rounds
  • 1 lemon, half sliced and half juiced
  • 2 fresh bay leaves

Method

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large, heavy-based saucepan. Stud 4–5 of the orange slices with the cloves (press them through the skin) if you want a more dramatic visual presentation, or simply add both cloves and orange slices loose to the pot.
  2. Heat over medium-low heat, stirring gently to dissolve the honey and sugar. Watch the temperature carefully (the mulled wine must never boil. Bring to a temperature of about 70°C / 160°F (just below a simmer) steam rising, small bubbles at the edges, but no rolling boil).
  3. Reduce heat to its very lowest setting and allow the wine to steep with the spices for 15–20 minutes, maintaining the temperature without simmering. Taste: it should be warming, spiced, and slightly sweet. Adjust honey as needed.
  4. Strain into warmed mugs or heatproof glasses. Garnish with a cinnamon stick, a slice of orange, and a star anise. Serve immediately.

Notes

The wine quality matters: use something you would drink, not the worst bottle on the shelf. Inexpensive full-bodied reds with low tannin and good fruit work best: overly tannic wines become harsh when heated. Ruby port deepens the colour and adds a fortified sweetness that is excellent but not essential. For a non-alcoholic version, use a combination of grape juice and cranberry juice in place of the wine, reducing the honey to 1 tablespoon and increasing the orange juice to 300ml.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

Mapping Culinary History

To explore — select an ingredient below.

Journey Point Map Key

Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
© 2026 The Gastrographer. All original research, narratives, and illustrations. All rights reserved.