Recipes

Mulled Wine

Skip the electronic slow cooker this year and make your mulled wine in a Dutch Oven for the ultimate holiday party treat.

By Rhoda Boone, Culinary Director
Dec 9, 2022
Jump to the Recipe
mulled wine
20 Minutes
8 - 10 Servings
Easy

No cocktail is more synonymous with cold weather than mulled wine. Generally, this consists of warmed, dry red wine spiked with brandy, with added flavor from citrus fruits and spices like cinnamon, allspice, star anise, or cloves.  With origins in the 2nd century as a way for Roman soldiers to stay warm in harsh wintry conditions, this drink has endured the test of time as a warming, seasonal cocktail, generally served around the holidays.

Here, our Creative Culinary Director Rhoda Boone offers up a Dutch Oven mulled wine recipe that may not be the one Roman soldiers were sipping on, but still keeps you just as warm. Be sure to serve with extra cinnamon sticks for added flavor and aesthetics.

Mulled Wine

Skip the electronic slow cooker this year and make your mulled wine in a Dutch Oven for the ultimate holiday party treat.

Rhoda Boone, Culinary Director

20 Minutes
8 - 10 Servings
Easy
Ingredients
  • 2 750-ml bottles dry red wine, such as Grenache, Merlot, Syrah, or Zinfandel
  • 1 ½ cups brandy
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar, plus more to taste
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 6 star anise pods
  • 4 cinnamon sticks, plus more for serving
  • ½ cup fresh cranberries
  • 3 large oranges
Instructions
    1.

    Add red wine, brandy, brown sugar, cloves, star anise, 4 cinnamon sticks, and cranberries to a Dutch Oven.

    2.

    Use a Chef Knife to slice 2 oranges into rounds and slice the third in half. Add half of the rounds to the mulled wine and reserve half of the rounds for garnish. Squeeze the halved orange into the wine mixture.

    3.

    Warm the mulled wine over medium heat until steaming, about 5 minutes, stirring to make sure sugar has dissolved. When you start seeing the tiniest of bubbles at the surface, reduce heat to low.

    4.

    Carefully taste, and add another tablespoon of sugar, if necessary. Continue cooking over low heat until thoroughly warmed through,  5–10 more minutes.

    5.

    Ladle the mulled wine into Coffee Mugs. Garnish each with a reserved orange round and cinnamon stick, if desired.