Mulled Wine

I am dedicating this post to two amazing women who converted me into a mulled wine lover a few weeks ago. The thought of drinking hot red wine was a little odd to me. I do love sangria, so it wasn't so much the spicy factor, more the temperature the wine would be consumed at. Janene and Shannon have known each other forever, and I was blessed to go to UCLA with the both of them. Janene and I were roommates for two years. She is now studying to be a psychologist and is one of the brightest people I know. Shannon is currently studying at Le Cordon Blue culinary school, and is a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen. I mean, their fridge alone contains the most amount of butter I have ever seen! Which is a great sign of true food lovers. And their Christmas gifts to each other usually consist of bacon or Costco size containers of hot sauce. I mean, how could you not love them. Shannon and Janene, this post goes out to you.

For this recipe, you can use good wine if you want. BUT... the best part about mulling the wine, is that you are adding flavor, so a cheaper wine will also work. Tonight I have a Christmas tree decorating party, and made this ahead of time for those people that want their wine cold. I also have 3 more bottles for tonight that I will heat and do on the spot for those people who are more adventurous.

3 bottles of red wine
-->I used Charles Shaw Nouveau, which is their limited fall wine, and for 2 dollars is pretty darn good.
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 heaping tbs mulling spice
-->mixture of cinnamon, cloves, all spice, and orange peel

For those of you who cannot find mulling spice (I found mine at Trader Joes in the tea section), here is a great recipe to try. RECIPE

Heat a large pot on low. Immediately, cork the wine and pour all three bottles of wine into the pot. You do not want to have the pot really hot when you pour the wine into it, as you will cook off the alcohol and possibly burn the wine. You also want to keep the tempterature on low! This makes sure you infuse the spice into the wine, without cooking off the alcohol. You will have to heat it longer, but you need to be patient.

Add the 3 heaping tbs mulling spice to the mixture. Stir.

Once the mulling spice is added, pour in the 3/4 cups granulated sugar. Stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved.

Let the mixture heat on low for about 20-30 minutes. Stir occasionally. The sugar should completely be dissolved, and the wine a little hot. If you start stirring and start to see a froth on top of the wine, the heating portion is done.

You can serve the wine as is. Or you can add ice cubes to it per glass to cool it down. I plan on serving a hot batch of wine tonight, but what I did was make this batch the night before. I placed the wine in a container, which I am chilling in my fridge overnight. That way, you have your colder wine, but still sweetened and with the mulled taste. I will strain it before I serve it tomorrow. Also, remember, red wine shouldn't be too cold, so bring the wine out for at least 30 minutes before you intend to serve it.