Every year as the weather gets colder, Evelyn’s starts cooking up our popular Cranberry Mulled Wine. It is a favorite and we get asked often for our recipe. We don’t have secrets at Evelyn’s, so we thought we’d share!
First of all, a little background on the origins of Mulled Wine. Mulled wine, or spiced wine, is a beverage usually made with red wine, along with various mulling spices and served hot. We can thank the ancient Greeks for coming up with the original mulled wine. They weren’t the type of people to leave extra wine on the table and there was always a part of the grape harvest that didn’t make it into the “good” wine. So, in order to prevent waste (and to make sure as much alcohol as possible was palatable), they would dump spices into the wine and heat it up.
Mulled wine really took off in the Middle Ages. The added spices were believed to make people healthier and had the benefit of tasting much better as well. The selection of wine wasn’t so great back then and it’s not like people could drink the water.
The common version of mulled wine today comes from Victorian England and is often served as a holiday season drink (in moderation, of course).
At Evelyn’s, we serve mulled wine as a tasty treat to warm our guests during the cold winter months. So, this holiday season, mull a batch for your guests using our easy recipe. It will warm them up and your house will smell awesome. Most modern-day versions have orange, cinnamon, nutmeg, a (cheap) dry red wine and a bit of port or brandy. Our recipe features Buffalo Rock Winery’s Cranberry Wine, apple cider and a mix of spices. It’s an easy recipe, but to make even easier, you can get excellent pre-mixed mulled wine spices at select grocery stores and The Abundant Kitchen in downtown Buffalo. We just use our own spices since we go through so much of it.
In a medium size saucepan over medium heat:
- 2 cups apple cider
- 2 cups Buffalo Rock Cranberry Wine (or an inexpensive sweeter red wine or red blend)
- 10 whole cloves
- 5 whole allspice berries
- 1/4 orange (do not peel)
- 2 whole cinnamon sticks
Bring all ingredients to a soft boil and then turn heat down to simmer (you don’t want it to continue boiling or you’ll burn off all the alcohol…don’t want that!). Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes.
Strain mulled wine through a sieve or cheesecloth into a thermos or carafe that will keep contents warm. Serves approximately 4 8oz cups. Serve in a coffee mug with an orange wedge or cinnamon stick (or both).