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A Good Dish

making food simpler

Mmmmulled Wine – An Easy Way to Warm Up the Shortest Night of the Year!

December 21, 2017

Mulled wine in porcelain cups by James Makins

Mulled wine may be the ultimate party drink. It perfumes your home and entices your visitors as they enter. It gets them to participate (they have to choose what to put in their glasses before they ladle in the hot wine) and it is not so alcohol heavy (especially after it has been simmering for awhile) that people get reeling drunk quickly, as with shots or hard liquor offerings. You could make a mulled cider the same way without the brandy to offer a non-alcoholic version but to get everyone in the holiday spirit, we serve spiced wine.

An inexpensive wine is just right in this recipe
The simple ingredients for mulled wine ready to combine

Whatever you call it – glogg, gluhwein, vin chaud or mulled wine, it is basically wine mixed with spices and sugar and some citrus fruit and heated. The recipe is easy and the ingredients are not expensive. You can choose any reasonably priced red wine – yes, even gallon jug wine, like Gallo or Carlo Rossi burgundy, will do – this is not the time to pull out your best bottle! You want fruit-forward wine – Burgundy, Merlot, Tempranillo, Zinfandel, Primitivo, Shiraz or a red blend will all work. Simmering, never boiling, is key so you don’t turn your wine into vinegar. I’ve read of people using a slow cooker to hold their mulled wine at temperature (a hot plate or a rice cooker might work, too, but please – not if it is non-stick). Since we don’t have a slow cooker, I just keep it over a very low flame on the stove.

Slivered blanched almonds, orange slices, raisins and candied ginger are some of the add-ins you can set out for people to help themselves
Porcelain bowls by James Makins

Set out bowls of sliced oranges, blanched slivered almonds, cinnamon sticks, raisins and chopped dried apples, apricots, pineapple or crystallized ginger (or whatever add-in you like). We use ceramic mugs but paper hot cups will work fine. This recipe was shared with me by my friend and mentor, the wonderful potter and teacher James Makins, who used to serve it at his holiday sales. Not only did it make his loft smell great but it relaxed people, got them mingling and, perhaps, encouraged sales – win win. Jim said he first drank glogg in Finland in 1970, on a trip with Byron Temple, and then got a recipe for it from his dorm mother, Signe Carlestrom, at Cranbrook. Now he makes it from an amalgam of online posts and his memory. His tip was to make it in advance so it can steep, even up to a year ahead, refrigerated, of course. Jim’s recipe called for 3 gallons of Burgundy but I have reduced the recipe to accommodate the current 1.5 liter bottles and 3 liter jugs of Hearty Burgundy available and it has always been sufficient. Try it at your next winter gathering and see if it doesn’t warm up the crowd!

Happy Winter!

Mulled wine
Porcelain cups by James Makins

Mulled Wine

Simmer until fragrant:

  • 3 liters burgundy (or similar) wine
  • 1 cup orange juice
  • 2 sliced oranges
  • 1 cup sugar
  • Handful of cinnamon sticks
  • Handful of whole cloves
  • Handful of cardamom seeds

When ready to serve, add 1-2 cups brandy (or something similar like Grand Marnier, Cognac or Cointreau) and keep warm over a low heat.

Serve with raisins, blanched almonds and your choice of add-ins.

Makes 20+ servings

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Filed Under: Drinks, Events

Comments

  1. Della Clason Sperling says

    December 21, 2017 at 4:24 pm

    Happy Winter Solstice, dear Wendy! xo

    • A Good Dish says

      December 24, 2017 at 9:41 am

      And to you, Della! Hope to catch up soon!

  2. Reva cotter says

    December 21, 2017 at 5:29 pm

    Perfect timing Wendy

  3. Larry Bush says

    December 22, 2017 at 6:25 pm

    I have one of Jim’s cups but its handle-less, more of a highball type. I think he had margaritas in mind, but it’s too cold for that. I’m sure he’d approve. I think this highball will work, but I’ll be pressed to drink the 20+ servings all by myself.

    I’m looking forward to the test, both for the recipe, that sounds nicely warming, but also for this perfect excuse to dust off my old Makins cup, a favorite of mine. Lacing my fingers around those signature undulating groves, full of warm spiced wine, will push the intimacy That red against the pale celadon certainly can’t hurt the taste.

    I wish I had a fireplace. I guess I can blast the new gas space heater in my studio. Somehow I think I’ll survive. …I wonder if I should hold off on all this rich warmth ’till those really desperate new england days in February…
    oh maybe not.
    Thanks for the thought Wendy.

    • A Good Dish says

      December 24, 2017 at 9:42 am

      Those tumblers are great for bar drinks but might work for a warm drink. Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Happy all, Larry, and good luck – we’ll be thinking of you! Cheers-

  4. Maria Posada says

    December 23, 2017 at 1:00 am

    Happy holidays dearest Wendy and the best for the coming year! Thank you so much for all your excellent and delicious recipes which have spiced our table and our lives! Much love darling and a big hug for you and family!

    • A Good Dish says

      December 24, 2017 at 9:44 am

      So happy you are enjoying the recipes. Thanks for all your support and lots of happiness in the New Year!

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Welcome to A Good Dish

Here you will find recipes and ideas for easy to make and tasty meals, sources for interesting dinnerware on which to serve those meals and resources for ingredients, classes and food related travel. My goal is to make daily cooking simpler and to inspire you to try different recipes beyond the handful you already make repeatedly. I hope that relaying my experiences will enhance yours. Follow along and let me know about your own cooking and food journeys.

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