Mulled Wine

Whatever you do this Christmas, whatever your plans, wherever you go – party, restaurant, even a local Christmas market – there’s a strong possibility that someone at some point will offer you a glass of mulled wine, and why not? It’s another favoured tradition, it’s the festive season, it’s likely cold outside, and a small glass of something warm and warming is often welcome*. But who decided heating wine and adding a few spicy flavours was the way to go? Was it designed purely to become a festive favourite or was it a winter warmer that simply fell into the lap of Christmas? Well, we just had to know.

Today’s mulled wine is typified by an inexpensive red wine, a selection of spices – maybe chosen by the host creating the beverage, maybe specified in a traditional recipe – some sugar or honey, even some dried fruit, and sometimes, additional alcohol in the shape of rum, gin, vodka or port, for an extra kick. Given the time of year, it’s not uncommon for a drop of orange or cranberry juice to be added to the mix to get the full seasonal experience in a single glass. There is, of course, a market for ready-made mulled wine, which can be heated alone or mixed with one’s preferred dried fruit or extra spices, and is generally lower in alcohol content; sachets of added ingredients can also be sourced (available in-store), so the tradition really has been exploited to its full potential.

As is often the case with history, there is some debate about who actually started the practice of mulling wine. It seems the Greeks are generally credited with the custom, but the Romans were hot on their heels, so it could really be either; the Romans do, however, get the prize for getting the custom to the masses, and unlike their reign, mulled wine endured.

The creation of the festive favourite was a deliberate attempt to reduce waste – how very modern! Rather than disposing of leftover wine or discarding a poor harvest, the Greeks would add honey and dates to mask any unpalatable flavours – both red and white – and spices – pepper, saffron – to preserve the wine; heating… well, it was winter, and though there would have been a measure of warmth from the spices, serving the entire concoction hot was a surefire way of staving off the winter chills. Such was confidence in the  benefits of the infusion, it was named ypocras,  hippocras or hypocrace (depending on where you were) after Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine”. 

The Romans’ recipe was similar, differing only by the inclusion of bay leaves, and, unsurprisingly, as with the Greek version, the drink became more of a winter tonic than an attempt to minimise loss, its warmth and herbs deemed beneficial to health in the colder months. Their wine, however, was called Conditum Paradoxum – translates as surprise spiced wine – and a recipe for it appears in the oldest known cookbook, De Re Conquinaira by Apicius (possibly one man, possibly one of several with the same name who contributed). The book is thought to have been written in the 1st century AD, though the oldest surviving copy dates back to around the 5th century AD; the recipe is the first one in the book, and it’s possible to still find a copy today. 

The drink’s popularity grew as the Romans introduced it to Europe, and now, not only are there variations in name, but each country’s recipe has its own twist. In France, it’s known as vin chaud (hot wine); Germany, it’s glühwein (glow wine); the Hungarians call it forralt bor (burnt wine) and the Italians, vin brulé (burnt wine); for the Scandinavians, it’s gløgg, derived from glödgat vin (heated wine), and it generally contains almonds and raisins. The drink is less popular in Spain, but it’s known as vino caliente (hot wine) is some regions, and in others, vino hervido (boiled wine).

Although it’s not clear exactly when the heated beverage arrived in the UK, there is a recipe for it in the medieval cookbook, The Forme of Cury, written around 1390 and published in 1780; there is also mention of “ypocras” in Geoffrey Chaucer’s, The Canterbury Tales, not published in its entirety until 1483.

There are further mentions in other early books: a mulled wine recipe appears in Thomas Dawson’s, The Good Housewife’s Jewel, a British cookbook published in 1596, and more notably, Charles Dickens refers to a mulled wine variation named, Smoking Bishop – port and wine warmed with baked oranges, boiled spices and a little lemon juice and sugar – in the 1843 classic, A Christmas Carol. Whilst the drink had remained a favourite for many celebrations, it was A Christmas Carol and the resurgence of Christmas celebrations in a Victorian England that established the association with Christmas.

Until recent times, wine, and particularly spices, were harder to acquire, expensive, and given that general survival was the biggest priority a few generations ago, not high on the list of necessities, so they became a luxury in wealthy and aristocratic circles; serving mulled wine to one’s guests was a demonstration of generosity and abundance. Now, of course, inexpensive red wines and the availability of spices have brought the tradition to the masses, and for those that are looking for simplicity, ready-made mulled wines are readily available in any local store or supermarket from now until the New Year.

Recipes in the UK vary just as much as those across Europe and beyond; a quick search will offer a fair selection – it seems everyone that has ever been involved in the food industry has their own version – but for a more traditional recipe you will need: a bottle of red wine, 2 cinnamon sticks, 4 cloves, 2 star anise, 2 strips of orange rind and approx. 4 tablespoons of sugar. Methods also vary: some suggest adding all ingredients to the pan, whilst others have a sequence to adhere to; the trick, however, is to heat gently without boiling to preserve the alcohol*, and a period of covered cooling is often suggested, before reheating the mix to one’s preferred temperature and serving.

Another tradition claimed by Christmas, though in fairness, it was served as an accompaniment to A Christmas Carol. Had its popularity not been boosted in Victorian times, with our fondness for the past and thirst for novelty, the chances are mulled wine would still have become a household favourite, just a little later. 

So as you sip your first glass over the festive season*, feeling the warmth of the aromatic infusion, try to ignore the possibility that the sweet and spicy flavour is masking a rather less pleasant partner… Enjoy!

*Always drink responsibly