Recipe: Mulled Spice Wine for the Holiday Season

The holiday seasons are upon us so ward of old Jack Frost with a soul warming glass of mulled spice wine served up at your holiday party or shared by family and friends in front of a cozy fire. Here is a simple recipe that you can start with to make a simple mulled spice wine or experiment with the ingredients and the amounts to make a mulled spice wine recipe of your own to suit your tastes.

1 bottle of red (port) wine

½ cup of brandy or spiced rum

¼ cup of honey

¼ cup of sugar

¼ cup of water

Half of an orange

Half of a lemon

Vanilla extract

Cinnamon stick

Nutmeg

Allspice

½ teaspoon of cloves

Dried cranberries or raisins for garnish

In a large crock pot, mix the water, sugar, honey, a dash of vanilla extract, the cloves, a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of allspice to the brandy and wine. Allow this to simmer for at least an hour but do not boil. To add more flavors to the mulled spice wine, you can use the orange peel zest and the lemon peel zest and use a split vanilla bean in place of the vanilla extract. You can also substitute spiced rum for the brandy to add more facets to the flavor.

To serve, remove the lemon, orange and cinnamon stick or if you used the zest or vanilla bean, you can strain the mulled spice wine through a strainer before serving. Deposit a few dried cranberries or raisins in the bottom of a mug or cup and pour the warm drink into the glass. This is best served with a mixture of sweet and salty hors d'oeuvres to bring the various tastes and accents of the mulled spice wine alive.

Late last year my wife and I rented a cabin in the Great Smoky Mountains and invited her sisters and parents along. We were treated to a gentle snow fall that magically turned the mountainsides into a true winter wonderland. After a relaxing walk down the path to view the spectacular scenes of trees and cabins nestled in the woods, we all warmed up by a roaring fire in the fireplace and a few cups of mulled spice wine. It was a "Rockwell" moment if ever there was one and a memory that we will cherish for years to come.