Mamma Francesca's Easy Mulled Wine Recipe

Mulled wine is a traditional European drink usually served during the winter season, mostly around Christmas. Though the ingredients for mulled wine vary from country to country, all versions include red wine that has been boiled and spiced. Common spices include cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves while other possible ingredients include vanilla, lemon and orange peels, sugar, honey, peppercorn and apples. If red wine is not available, it is also possible to use other fruity wines such as blueberry or cherry wine. To see a full list of mulled wine variants, please visit the Wikipedia Mulled Wine Page.

Though it is difficult to pinpoint the era in which mulled wine first came into existence, most historians agree that the custom of mulling wine reaches back as far as the early Roman times. We also know that years on, during the Medieval Times, the mulling and spicing of wine was an established practice, carried out to prevent young wines brewed in autumn from spoiling during the winter.

In every era, mulled wine was consumed during the cold months to keep the body warm and healthy, a practice which was not completely erroneous as hot wine was more sanitary than drinking water at the time. Even in the modern day, we drink mulled wine for the very same reason.

Though mulled wine has always been consumed during the winter months for obvious reasons, its affiliation with the Christmas season was first popularized by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the film It's a Wonderful Life.

Sources:
We Are Never Full: Drink of the Month
Grape.com: Mulled Wine History

The wonderful thing about mulled wine is that you can brew it to suit your personal taste. In other words, there really is no best wine for mulled wine - just make sure you choose a brand you enjoy drinking!

This being said, experts tend to recommend dry red wines over sweet wines as they create a more authentic and sophisticated flavour. Popular dry red wines include Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot, and Syrah. These wines contain zero sugar residue.

Another recommendation is to avoid wasting your best wines on making mulled wine. The final product will be so full of spices, sugar and citris anyway, that you will not be able to perceive the subtle flavours of the wine itself. For this reason, it is best to go with a cheap wine in the $5-10 range. Keep that $100 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon you've been treasuring in your wine cabinet for another occasion!