| | | |

Cozy Homemade Mulled Wine Recipe (with a Crockpot Option)

This delicious and easy spiced homemade mulled wine recipe is a wonderful addition to your next holiday gathering, especially with the option of preparing it in a crockpot.

Traditional recipes help us transcend time and distance and place us squarely back into a place where memories come alive for us in a way that few other things do. The senses of smell and taste can quickly and easily transport us to another time or place.  Perhaps this is why food and drink have such strong associations with memory for most of us; and vice versa.

It’s also why and how recipes become ingrained traditions in our lives that we look forward to making year after year. Food and drink can become intricately tied to a memory or experience, to the point that we associate very strong and specific emotions with it. For us, mulled wine inspires feelings of warmth, friendship, joy and laughter that is all linked to my strong association of it with good friends and the holiday season.

Homemade spiced mulled wine garnished with orange slices and cinnamon

Today I’m joining some of my blogging friends for the last of this year’s Seasonal Simplicity Christmas Series. Today we are all sharing a favourite holiday drink recipe. Be sure to visit them and check out their recipes by visiting the links at the bottom of today’s post!

A collage image of 12 different delicious holiday drink recipe ideas

As I mentioned, mulled wine is a favourite in this home around the holidays. I told the story of where I first learned about it in my post last week, about creating DIY Mulled Wine Gifts for friends, coworkers, or hostesses this holiday season.

Years ago one of my closest friends relocated permanently to Switzerland where she now teaches at an International school and raises her beautiful family along with her native Swiss husband. It was on a Christmas visit several years ago that she first introduced me to mulled wine, which is a very common and popular holiday beverage in northern Europe.

Two glasses of spiced mulled wine displayed with raw cinnamon sticks and orange slices

It became a family tradition that she would bring us home little packets of mulled wine spices, or “Glühwein” spices, already mixed together so I could brew up a few batches of this delicious and special holiday treat.

Spiced mulled wine made with raw cinnamon and fresh orange slices

But as they have begun visiting in the summers rather then the winter, I’ve been left to my own devices. So after much research and experimentation, I have come up with this recipe for mulled wine which I’ve tweaked over the past few years, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Spiced mulled wine in a clear glass

One thing that I’ve often done on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day is to make a big batch in our crockpot so that it is easy and ready to go for our family or friends to enjoy while we are busy concentrating on other aspects of the evening or the dinner. I’ve added some tips below for how to prepare this in a crockpot instead of using up another burner on your stove!

5 from 3 votes
Print

Mulled Wine Recipe

How to make spiced mulled wine with tips for using a crockpot

Ingredients

  • 1 bottle red wine, like a Cab Sauvignon 750ml
  • 1 fresh orange, cut in 1/8" slices
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup orange juice, no pulp optional
  • 3 raw cinnamon sticks
  • 2 star anise
  • 20 cloves
  • 10 peppercorns
  • 1/2 tsp allspice

Instructions

  1. Pour the wine into a medium saucepan and add all ingredients. Stir until blended,.

  2. Heat the wine to a simmer, not allowing it to boil. Stir again to ensure the sugar and spices are well blended.

  3. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes, keeping the temperature low.

  4. Skim off the whole spices if you wish, and serve with a garnish or orange.

  5. To use a crockpot, you may wish to create a double batch. Keep on low heat until warmed through.

Want to remember this? PIN it for later.

Two glasses of spiced mulled wine with orange slices and cinnamon sticks

Tips for choosing the right wine for mulled wine:

Don’t use your best wine, or anything really expensive. You will be adding a lot of flavour to your mulled wine through the spices and sugar so you don’t need anything high-end. Inexpensive wines work great, and as does a light wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon like I usually use. Some people prefer something a little heavier or sweeter, but remember that adding sugar and orange and/or orange juice will make it that much sweeter.

 

This week is my friends and I are sharing our holiday drink recipes, just in time for you to enjoy them this season! You can visit their posts by clicking on the links below the images.

four different holiday drink recipe ideas

Homemade Mulled Wine for Christmas at The Happy Housie

Naughty but Nice Christmas Cocktail at Inspiration for Moms

Merry Mistletoe Margaritas at This is Our Bliss

Cranberry Whiskey Mule at Modern Glam

four delicious holiday drink recipes

Dark and Stormy Cocktails at Finding Silver Pennies

Pomegranate Cosmopolitan Cocktail at Maison de Cinq

3 Ingredient Easy Spiced Apple Gin Cocktail at The DIY Mommy

Ginger Pear Prosecco Sparkler at Life is Better at Home

four cozy and creamy holiday drink recipe ideas

Creamy Peppermint Punch at Clean and Scentsible

Hot Chocolate Charcuterie Board at Life is a Party

A Festive Holiday Spiced Coffee Recipe at She Gave it a Go

Easy Chai Tea Latte at Paint Me Pink

Similar Posts

12 Comments

  1. Wow! Another reason why crockpots are the best! Who knew I could combine two of my favorites — wine + the crockpot and have a festive drink for the holidays! Thanks for sharing and hosting this great hop. So many wonderful recipes!!

  2. This sounds like a great recipe to make when you are having guests! It sounds delicious and looks so festive! Thanks for sharing this recipe with us Krista!

    Happy Holidays my friend!

    xoxo,
    Norma

  3. 5 stars
    I love that you can prepare this in the crockpot so it can simmer while you welcome guests. I can almost taste your mulled wine by looking at it! Merry Christmas!

  4. This sounds amazing Krista! I’ve always wanted to try making this and you’ve inspired me! Thanks for sharing your delicious recipe and for including me in your wonderful series. I so appreciate sharing with all of you talented ladies! 🙂

    Wishing you and your family a Very Merry Christmas!

    Sheila
    xo

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.