Once the temperatures drop and the air fills with pumpkin, gingerbread and spice, winter has arrived. The season is not everyone's favourite, but it brings a good deal of warmth with it. Food and wine people tend to love it. The table fills up with rich, hearty cooking and full-bodied reds to go alongside. And one drink defines the season. Without it, winter would not be the same. Mulled wine.
It has warmed a great many people over the years, and because it is simple, plenty of us make it at home. Christmas markets are full of it, but making your own has a certain something. The trouble is you always end up with more than one glass, and then you have a pan of it sitting there.
So: does mulled wine go off? Short answer, yes. Like any wine it has a shelf life, and a short one if you store it badly.
Here is how long it keeps, how to store it, and our recipe.
What Is Mulled Wine?
Mulled wine is a winter drink with a firm claim on being the Christmas one. Also called spiced wine. Nobody is certain where it started, though somewhere in Europe is the safe bet, which is why every Christmas market on the continent sells it.
It is usually made with red wine, infused with spices like cloves and cinnamon, and citrus. Sweeter and more aromatic than the wine it started as, and depending on what you put in, it can be strong.
Does Mulled Wine Go Off?
It does. Once it is exposed to air it starts to oxidise, and both the flavour and the structure change with it.
The fix is simple. Put it in the fridge.
Storage Tips
After cooking, transfer it to a bottle and seal it with a cork. A rubber airtight stopper works too. Avoid vacuum sealers, which pull the aroma out and leave it flat.
It keeps three to five days. Do a quick check before you reheat: take a good sniff, and if it smells sour or vinegary, it is finished.
Reheating is easy. Put it in a pan on the hob or in a slow cooker and bring it to a gentle simmer. Do this once only. Repeated heating and cooling wrecks the taste. Not much of a hardship, since finishing it is rarely difficult.
Can You Revive It?
Once it has properly gone, no. The fridge buys you five days at best, and after that a sharp acidic smell means it is done. You could turn it into vinegar, if you are the sort of person who does that.
Which Wine Should You Use?
Reds work best. Look for something full-bodied with dark, fruity notes. Merlot, Grenache and Sangiovese are all reliable.
One mistake worth avoiding: do not mix varieties. A bottle of Merlot topped up with Pinot Noir is not a recipe, it is a mess.
Serve it with roasted nuts and creamy cheese, or push it towards pudding with chocolate cake or an apple tart.
What You Need
Red wine first. Some newer versions use whites, so there is room to experiment.
Then spices: cinnamon, star anise, cloves and cardamom are the usual set. For fruit, oranges, lemons and limes are standard, and some recipes add apple or pear. Finally a sweetener, whether granulated sugar, maple syrup or honey.
Some recipes add a spirit for extra weight. Entirely optional.
Our Recipe
Pour the wine into a pan and put it on a medium to low heat until it starts to simmer. While it warms, slice some oranges into rounds and add them. Throw in a few cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise and two spoons of honey.
Now the part people get wrong. As soon as you see the first small bubbles, drop the heat to its lowest setting and put a lid on. If it boils you cook off the alcohol and the aromatics with it. Leave it twenty minutes.
While it sits, cut more orange slices for the cups, and keep a cinnamon stick for each. Run the wine through a strainer to take out the spices and fruit, pour, and serve.
Why It Is Worth The Effort
Mulled wine is not magical because it is easy or because it tastes good. It is the warmth, and the fact that it is a drink you make for other people. That is most of the point of it.
Our reds will all take to it, and something with weight and dark fruit works best. Add your own vanilla or a splash of spirit if you like. It is your pan.