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    Home » Cocktails » Holiday Spiced Wine Recipe (Mulled Wine)

    Published: Sep 27, 2023 · Updated: Sep 11, 2023 by Sharon Garofalow | This post may contain affiliate links. See the privacy policy linked in my footer.

    Holiday Spiced Wine Recipe (Mulled Wine)

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe
    Close up of a glass of holiday spiced wine on a white background.

    This Holiday Spiced Wine recipe is perfect for the holidays! Warm, comforting, and packed with festive orange and aromatic spices like cinnamon, cloves and star anise this easy Mulled Red Wine recipe serves a crowd and is surprisingly quick to make. It's ideal for all your holiday parties!

    Glass of spiced wine on a white background surrounded by garnishes.
    A warm holiday spiced wine cocktail that just smells like Christmas!
    Jump to:
    • Why you'll love this Hot Spiced Wine Recipe
    • Ingredients
    • Directions
    • Additional Garnishes
    • Variations
    • Top tips
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • More Easy Holiday Recipes
    • A Comforting Hot Spiced Wine Recipe for the Holidays!

    Regardless if you call it holiday spiced wine, mulled wine, glühwein or glögg, warmed, sweetened spiced wine has been a popular holiday drink for centuries, often found at European Christmas markets and kept warm by the bar in British pubs.

    And it's easy to make it at home for your next holiday party!

    Why you'll love this Hot Spiced Wine Recipe

    Imagine it. It is cold and crisp outside, but inside a big pot of warm, spiced wine that just smells of the holidays is simmering away on the stove ready to be ladled into glasses for you to wrap your hands around and sip.

    It's like a holiday stove-top potpourri recipe that you can actually drink. It's a wine cocktail that is super low effort and makes a big batch of cocktails for holiday parties.

    Related: Warm Plum Sangria with Red Wine

    How perfect is that?

    Even here in California where it is still pretty mild around the holidays one sip of this easy Mulled Wine recipe is enough to make me feel festive. It's one of my favorite cocktails to serve when the weather is cold.

    Candy cane martinis on a table with text next to it.

    Ingredients

    Holiday spiced wine ingredients.
    Only a few simple ingredients are needed to make this Holiday Spiced Wine recipe!

    Here's what you need to make an easy Mulled Wine:

    • 1 bottle fruity red wine
    • Triple Sec
    • 1 orange, sliced into rounds
    • whole cloves
    • cinnamon sticks
    • whole star anise
    • maple syrup, to taste

    A fruity red wine works best in hot spiced wine, but any bottle will work. Cheap wine (as long as it is drinkable!) is fine here as you're adding lots of flavors, sweetness and spice.

    If you don't have maple syrup to hand, simply stir up to 3 tablespoon of white sugar into the warm wine to dissolve, to taste. My Vanilla Cinnamon Simple Syrup would be a delicious alternative, too.

    While I like these spices, you can use whatever you have on hand. If licorice flavor isn't your favorite, leave the star anise out altogether.

    See the printable recipe card for quantities and full recipe.

    Directions

    Wooden spoon stirring a pot of mulled wine.

    Step 1

    In a very large saucepan or casserole dish, stir together all the ingredients except for the Triple Sec and the sweetener.

    Step 2

    Over a medium high heat, warm the wine so it is just simmering (only just starting to have tiny bubbles) before reducing the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

    Spiced wine being ladled out of the mulling pot.

    Step 3

    Add the Triple Sec, then add the maple syrup to sweeten to taste.

    Step 4

    Strain with a fine mesh strainer if you don't want to ladle the spiced wine straight into the glass.

    Two glasses of hot spiced wine garnished with orange wheels and star anise.

    Serve

    Serve in heatproof glasses with your favorite garnishes (see below!)

    Additional Garnishes

    If you're serving this Mulled Christmas Wine straight out of the pot you can just ladle some of the infusing spices into each glass. Make sure you let everyone sipping know that each glass may have whole spices in it so they can sip carefully.

    But if you're straining it here are some pretty (and aromatic!) garnish ideas for each glass:

    • More orange or lemon slices
    • Orange peel twists
    • Cinnamon sticks
    • Whole Cloves
    • Fresh cranberries
    • Fresh Rosemary sprigs

    Variations

    • Change up the spirits - Triple Sec is lovely here as it ups the festive citrus flavor of the spiced wine but brandy is the more traditional addition that makes it more warming and gives it quite a kick! Grand Marnier and cherry brandy also work well. Don't go buying a bottle just for this though - Triple Sec is the most versatile and you'll get the most use out of it on your home bar! The Polish sometimes add a shot of vodka to their spiced wine.
    • Add orange juice - if you want to lower the amount of alcohol fresh bottled orange juice is a common addition added to taste in place of the Triple Sec.
    • Add ginger - coins of fresh ginger can be infused in the wine or ⅛ teaspoon of ground ginger for a warming kick.

    Top tips

    • If you're scaling the recipe up for a party, instead of slicing the orange quarter it and using a skewer stud the skin with little holes and push the cloves into the holes. That way you don't need to strain the mixture before serving: it is pretty if you get a piece of cinnamon, orange or anise in your glass - annoying if you get a clove! The orange will keep the cloves in place.
    • If you're serving this spiced wine throughout an evening, keep it on a low heat just below a simmer: you don't want to let it boil as the spices will become too strong and the alcohol in the wine and Triple Sec will cook away! If heated too high too long, the flavor becomes too concentrated.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can I make this with white wine?

    White wine has a very different character so you'd be better off looking up a specific white mulled wine recipe.

    Can I make this spiced wine ahead?

    You don't want the spices sitting in the wine more than 2 hours as it will become too strong, but you can get ahead by making the wine, straining it, storing it in the fridge for up to 3 days and gently warming it before serving over fresh garnishes in each glass.

    What can I do with any leftovers?

    Leftover mulled wine can always be stored and re-warmed as above, but if you're serving it at a party and the spices have been sitting in it it might be too strong to drink again. It will however be delicious in a sorbet or used to make a holiday jello!

    More Easy Holiday Recipes

    • Simple Christmas Cosmo Recipe with Vodka
    • Best Eggnog Dump Cake Recipe for the Holidays
    • Best Cranberry Moscow Mule Recipe for Thanksgiving
    • Easy Cranberry Christmas Cake Recipe (with Cake Mix!)
    • Best White Chocolate Popcorn Recipe for Christmas
    • This White Wine Cake tastes just like Christmas
    • Red Wine Cocktails with Tequila
    • Spiced Rum Cupcakes Recipe
    • White Wine Margarita
    • Sparkling Rose Cocktail

    Save and Pin this recipe for later!

    Make sure you don’t lose this recipe by saving it for later! Also, for more recipes make sure you’re following me on Pinterest, Instagram and like my page on Facebook. If you make this recipe, be sure to leave a star rating and tag me in your pictures!

    Glass of spiced wine on a white background surrounded by garnishes.

    A Comforting Hot Spiced Wine Recipe for the Holidays!

    This easy recipe for Mulled Wine is the perfect big batch cocktail for holiday parties, spiked with Triple Sec and spiced with cinnamon, star anise, and cloves.
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Pin Rate Save Saved!
    Course: cocktails
    Cuisine: American
    Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 25 minutes minutes
    Servings: 6 servings
    Calories: 150kcal
    Author: Sharon Garofalow

    Ingredients

    • 1 bottle fruity red wine
    • 1 orange sliced
    • 10 whole cloves
    • 2 cinnamon sticks
    • 2 star anise
    • 2 tablespoon Triple Sec
    • 1 ½ tablespoon maple syrup to taste

    Instructions

    • In a very large saucepan or casserole dish, stir together all the ingredients except for the Triple Sec and the sweetener. 
    • Over a medium high heat, warm the wine so it is just simmering (only just starting to have tiny bubbles) before reducing the heat to low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. 
    • Add the Triple Sec, then add the maple syrup to sweeten to taste. 
    • Strain with a fine mesh strainer if you don't want to ladle the spiced wine straight into the glass.
    • Serve in heatproof glasses with your favorite garnishes (see below!)

    Notes

    Additional Garnishes
    If you're serving this Mulled Christmas Wine straight out of the pot you can just ladle some of the infusing spices into each glass. But if you're straining it here are some garnish ideas:
      • More orange or lemon slices
      • Orange peel twists
      • Cinnamon sticks
      • Whole Cloves
      • Fresh cranberries
      • Fresh Rosemary sprigs
    Variations
      • Change up the spirits - Triple Sec is lovely here as it ups the festive citrus flavor of the spiced wine but brandy is the more traditional addition that makes it more warming and gives it quite a kick! Grand Marnier and cherry brandy also work well. The Polish sometimes add a shot of vodka to their spiced wine.
      • Add orange juice - if you want to lower the amount of alcohol fresh bottled orange juice is a lovely addition.
      • Add ginger - coins of fresh ginger can be infused in the wine or ⅛ teaspoon of ground ginger for a warming kick.
    Top tips
      • If you're scaling the recipe up for a party, instead of slicing the orange quarter it and using a skewer stud the skin with little holes and push the cloves into the holes. That way you don't need to strain the mixture before serving: the orange will keep the cloves in place.
      • If you're serving this spiced wine throughout an evening, keep it on a low heat just below a simmer: you don't want to let it boil as the spices will become too strong and the alcohol in the wine and Triple Sec will cook away!

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1drink | Calories: 150kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 0.4g | Fat: 0.2g | Saturated Fat: 0.03g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.04g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.05g | Trans Fat: 0.002g | Sodium: 7mg | Potassium: 224mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 57IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 40mg | Iron: 1mg
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    About Sharon Garofalow

    Sharon lives in Southern California with her adorable family. She loves to share ideas to make mom life easier and encourage busy gals to make time for themselves too! Sharon's "me" time often includes watching Hallmark Channel movies, sipping sauvignon blanc, trying not to eat Salt and Pepper potato chips, and planning girlfriend getaways.

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    Welcome!
    I'm your go-to for easy, no-fuss party recipes. After hosting countless get-togethers and teaching myself to make cocktails at home, I'm sharing my secrets for how to mix drinks with ease (no bartender skills or fancy tools needed!). Plus learn my stress-free party shortcuts and favorite crowd-pleasing recipes. Email me at [email protected]

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    Posts about wine, liquor and/or cocktail recipes are expressly for people 21 years of age and older. Drink responsibly.

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