How to Make Mulled Wine

Feel that chill in the air?! With fall here to stay, it’s time to pop the White Claws, rosé, and Aperol back on the shelf and tuck in for another long, cold winter. While, yeah, that sounds kind of depressing, it brings some good news: It’s time for another season of favorite beverages, including pumpkin spice lattes (and, uh, hard seltzer?), apple cider, hot cocoa, and —last, but certainly not least — mulled wine.

Warm, cozy, and spicy, mulled wine has been a mainstay at holiday markets across Europe for centuries and is a wintertime favorite across many different cultures. Whether you know it as glühwein, vin chaud, or any of its other global monikers, it tastes just as delicious when made at home as it does strolling the aisles of a pumpkin patch or Christmas market. Perfect for a tailgate party or holiday party (or for a chill movie night at home), this steamy drink is the key to staying warm all fall and winter.

But what is mulled wine, exactly, and how do you make it? Orsi Szentkiralyi, an advanced sommelier and editor of National Geographic’s forthcoming book, The New Sotheby’s Wine Encyclopedia, shares all the details.

What is Mulled Wine?

Mulled wine is (typically red) wine that's spiced with different flavors like nutmeg, clove, and cinnamon, sweetened with a bit of honey or sugar, and heated to a fantastically cozy temperature.

"Mulled wine is the perfect autumn drink," says Szentkiralyi. It's meant to be sipped on a cold day, and since a lot of the alcohol cooks out during the heating process, it's perfect for savoring slowly while curled up with a good book, she says. There's no exact recipe for mulled wine — the flavorings are mostly a matter of personal preference.

Sipping a cup of mulled wine conjures up images of a medieval dinner; wine sloshing in pewter goblets around a Game of Thrones-style dining table. Turns out, it dates back even further than that. Szentkiralyi says mulled wine actually originated in ancient Rome as a way to preserve wine and give it a longer shelf life. "In the very ancient times, wine was not meant to be kept for a very long time," she says. "Wine also had a very variable quality. Romans didn't want to waste a drop, so they fixed it up with some spices, honey, and whatever else was available. By heating it up, they could stabilize it: killing bacteria, extending its shelf-life, and adding some flavor." (