How is mulled wine made?
December has passed, but the cool weather is still here for a while, which is why today we are talking about mulled wine.
What wine do we use for mulling wine? How do we choose it?
How do we prepare mulled wine and how do we serve it?
These are the questions we set out to answer today in the following.
What wine should we use for making mulled wine?
First of all, a complex wine is not a good choice for mulled wine. You should chose a more simple wine, but one you would enjoy drinking, not a low quality wine.
By boiling, the flavors of the wine are lost, so our recommendation is to use a simple, cheaper wine, but a wine made correctly. Always buy bottled wine (eg a 750 ml bottle) at a price that is no lower than if you bought the empty container(!). Let's say that a RON 25-35 bottle would be ok. (The price of a bottle of wine is a complex topic, we will return with an article dedicated to it).
Depending on your preferences, the wine you choose can be dry, semi-dry or even semi-sweet or sweet. If you choose dry wine, we recommend adding a little sugar to the preparation (the quantity may be different depending on your preference). The semi-dry wine and especially the semi-sweet/sweet one will not need additional sugar added to the preparation because it already has some residual sugar from the grapes (to be considered a demi-sweet wine it must have between 4 and 12 g of sugar/liter; to be considered a semi-sweet wine it will have between 12 and 45 g sugar/liter; wines with more than 45 g sugar/liter are considered sweet wines). Here it depends a lot on everyone's taste and how they are used to it, so the simplest thing would be to try several options until you realize which one suits you best.
Regarding the color of the wine, both white and red wine can be used. It just depends on your preference.
What do we add to mulled wine?
The equivalent of a 750 ml bottle of wine includes approximately 4 cups of wine.
To make mulled wine it is better to have whole ingredients rather than powder because when heated they will leave more of their flavor in the wine than powdered spices that dissolve.
To the mulled wine you can add (approximate quantities estimated for 750 ml of wine):
What wine do we use for mulling wine? How do we choose it?
How do we prepare mulled wine and how do we serve it?
These are the questions we set out to answer today in the following.
What wine should we use for making mulled wine?
First of all, a complex wine is not a good choice for mulled wine. You should chose a more simple wine, but one you would enjoy drinking, not a low quality wine.
By boiling, the flavors of the wine are lost, so our recommendation is to use a simple, cheaper wine, but a wine made correctly. Always buy bottled wine (eg a 750 ml bottle) at a price that is no lower than if you bought the empty container(!). Let's say that a RON 25-35 bottle would be ok. (The price of a bottle of wine is a complex topic, we will return with an article dedicated to it).
Depending on your preferences, the wine you choose can be dry, semi-dry or even semi-sweet or sweet. If you choose dry wine, we recommend adding a little sugar to the preparation (the quantity may be different depending on your preference). The semi-dry wine and especially the semi-sweet/sweet one will not need additional sugar added to the preparation because it already has some residual sugar from the grapes (to be considered a demi-sweet wine it must have between 4 and 12 g of sugar/liter; to be considered a semi-sweet wine it will have between 12 and 45 g sugar/liter; wines with more than 45 g sugar/liter are considered sweet wines). Here it depends a lot on everyone's taste and how they are used to it, so the simplest thing would be to try several options until you realize which one suits you best.
Regarding the color of the wine, both white and red wine can be used. It just depends on your preference.
What do we add to mulled wine?
The equivalent of a 750 ml bottle of wine includes approximately 4 cups of wine.
To make mulled wine it is better to have whole ingredients rather than powder because when heated they will leave more of their flavor in the wine than powdered spices that dissolve.
To the mulled wine you can add (approximate quantities estimated for 750 ml of wine):
- 1-2 cinnamon sticks
- 2-3 cloves
- 2-3 star anise
- 1 vanilla pod
- a touch of nutmeg/cardamom (you'll most likely only find these in powder form)
- a touch of ginger/2-3 peppercorns (if you want the mulled wine to be slightly spicy)
- 50 g sugar (if the wine is dry)
- a few slices of orange/tangerine and/or small diced apples
You don't have to use all the ingredients above, only the ones you like. The simplest mulled wine can be made by adding only cinnamon, cloves and fresh fruits. Experiment with what you like and improve the recipe as you like it.
Of course, if you don't have this kind of ingredients at hand, you can also opt for the option of buying bags of "wine spices" from the supermarket. There are a lot of options and the ones we recommend are the ones that include the whole ingredients, not the ones with powdered and mixed ingredients.
If you want to enjoy a ready-made mulled wine without the hassle of adding spices or fresh fruits, know that there is a solution. You can buy a wine specially made for "Mulled Wine". We recommend Glintwein produced by Suvorov Vin from the Republic of Moldova, imported and sold in Romania by Produse Moldovenesti. It already has mulled wine spices in it and all you have to do is heat it up. You can find it on Produse Moldovenesti website in 3-liter boxes (deliveries are made throughout Romania). And, as you probably already know, if you add the promotional code "winesday15" to your order on Produse Moldovenesti website, you will receive a 15% discount on the products in the order (the discount cannot be combined with other discounts temporarily available on the website).
Of course, if you don't have this kind of ingredients at hand, you can also opt for the option of buying bags of "wine spices" from the supermarket. There are a lot of options and the ones we recommend are the ones that include the whole ingredients, not the ones with powdered and mixed ingredients.
If you want to enjoy a ready-made mulled wine without the hassle of adding spices or fresh fruits, know that there is a solution. You can buy a wine specially made for "Mulled Wine". We recommend Glintwein produced by Suvorov Vin from the Republic of Moldova, imported and sold in Romania by Produse Moldovenesti. It already has mulled wine spices in it and all you have to do is heat it up. You can find it on Produse Moldovenesti website in 3-liter boxes (deliveries are made throughout Romania). And, as you probably already know, if you add the promotional code "winesday15" to your order on Produse Moldovenesti website, you will receive a 15% discount on the products in the order (the discount cannot be combined with other discounts temporarily available on the website).
How long does the wine boil? How do I know it's ready?
Once out in a recipient add the ingredients chosen from those proposed above. The wine doesn't have to boil, you can just heat it up to 70-78 degrees, leave it for a few seconds, then turn off the heat and let the ingredients leave their flavors in the wine a little longer (2-3 minutes should be enough). The diced mandarin/orange/apple can only be added after you have turned off the heat. The fruits from the boiled wine can be eaten, but be careful when you put the wine in cups to leave the rest of the ingredients in the container in which it was boiled (cinnamon sticks, cloves, etc.).
Serving mulled wine
In most cases, mulled wine is served from either ordinary or clay cups, or from special, slightly taller cups. Slightly taller mugs have the ability to keep wine warm for a longer period of time. So if you are serving wine outside, in the open air, we recommend this type of mug.
Once out in a recipient add the ingredients chosen from those proposed above. The wine doesn't have to boil, you can just heat it up to 70-78 degrees, leave it for a few seconds, then turn off the heat and let the ingredients leave their flavors in the wine a little longer (2-3 minutes should be enough). The diced mandarin/orange/apple can only be added after you have turned off the heat. The fruits from the boiled wine can be eaten, but be careful when you put the wine in cups to leave the rest of the ingredients in the container in which it was boiled (cinnamon sticks, cloves, etc.).
Serving mulled wine
In most cases, mulled wine is served from either ordinary or clay cups, or from special, slightly taller cups. Slightly taller mugs have the ability to keep wine warm for a longer period of time. So if you are serving wine outside, in the open air, we recommend this type of mug.
