Red wine, citrus, cinnamon and star anise gently simmering: the Christmas market mulled wine, made at home.
Mulled wine is the smell of wooden stalls and December markets: a red wine sweetened just enough, scented with orange, cinnamon, star anise and cloves. At home it takes half an hour, and it fills the whole kitchen with its scent.
The difference between a mulled wine that smells wonderful and one that tastes harsh comes down to a single rule: it must NEVER boil. Above roughly 80 °C (175 °F), the spices turn bitter, the citrus peel gets acrid and the wine loses its fruit. You keep it at a bare simmer, then let it infuse off the heat.
Good to know · Mulled wine is still an alcoholic drink: gentle heating does not remove all the alcohol, far from it. So it is not for children, pregnant women, or anyone driving; for them, there's the alcohol-free version with grape juice. Please drink responsibly.
Wash the orange and half lemon in hot water. Peel 3 wide strips of orange zest, without the white pith, then cut the rest of the orange into 5 mm rounds. Stud two rounds with the cloves. Squeeze the half lemon.
In the saucepan, put the water, sugar, cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, zest and orange rounds. Heat over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved, then simmer for 5 minutes: the syrup becomes fragrant and lightly golden.
Turn the heat right down and pour in the wine and lemon juice. Warm gently until small lazy bubbles appear around the edge, with no bubbling in the middle. Keep it at that bare simmer for 15 minutes, uncovered.
Turn off the heat, cover the pan and leave to infuse for 10 minutes. Taste: add a spoonful of sugar or honey if you'd like it sweeter, and rewarm for a minute over low heat if needed.
Pour the mulled wine through the fine sieve to remove the spices and zest. Ladle into warm mugs, with a fresh orange round and a cinnamon stick if you have some left.
Check off every step to celebrate.
Strained mulled wine keeps for 3 days in the fridge, in a closed bottle. Rewarm it over low heat, without boiling. You can make the spiced syrup (step 2) the day before and keep it chilled: on the day, all that's left is to add the wine.
Only a small part of it. Gently simmered for about twenty minutes, mulled wine keeps most of its alcohol. Treat it like ordinary wine: not for children, not during pregnancy, and not before driving.
A young, fruity, supple red with no oaky taste. No need for a fine bottle: the spices and sugar would cover its qualities, and a very tannic wine turns harsh when heated.
Usually it boiled, or the spices and peel stayed in too long. Keep a barely visible simmer, peel the zest without the pith and strain after infusing.
Add this recipe to your meal, then come back for appetizers, a drink, cookies with coffee: Popotam brings them together, with the shopping for your whole table and the timeline up to dessert. Free, no account.
