Fall Cocktails: How to Make Mulled Wine
Sweater weather is rapidly approaching. With it comes a slew of fall fests, friendly get togethers, crisp nights by the fire, and cozy movie nights. While a glass of wine usually does the trick, there’s just something special about a homemade fall wine cocktail. We’re teaching you how to make mulled wine (and other fall cocktails!)
How to Make Mulled Wine
Mulled wine is known by names across the world – glühwein, vino caliente, glög… the list goes on and on. We take that to mean hot wine is a favorite, across cultures. There are many variations, with various spices. You can also make mulled wine on your stovetop or in a slow cooker!
Stovetop Mulled Wine Recipe
- 1 bottle of dry red wine
- ¼ cup brandy
- 1 orange, sliced into rounds (peel if you’d like your mulled wine less bitter)
- Cardamom pods
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise
- 2-4 tbsp honey or maple syrup
Add your wine, brandy, oranges, cardamom pods, cinnamon sticks, and anise to a medium size pot. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, but quickly reduce heat to low. You don’t want to cook out the alcohol! Cover and let wine simmer for no less than 15 mins and no more than 3 hours. Then remove from heat, sweeten to taste, and let sit a few minutes before serving.
You can choose to strain your mixture into mugs, or keep all the goodies in there and ladle the warm spiced wine into your glasses. Garnish with remaining cinnamon sticks and orange slices!
Other Fall Wine Cocktail Favorites
Apple Cider Mimosa
Fall-ify Sunday brunch ‘n mimosas with this autumn favorite! This is one of the easiest wine cocktails in our arsenal - all you’ll need is apple cider, sparkling wine, and a few added ingredients for garnish.
- Apple cider
- Stigma Sparkling wine
- Caramel dip for rim
- Apple slice for garnish
Heat up your caramel dip, and rim your champagne flute with caramel. Insert the glass straight down into the topping and be sure not to twist the glass. Fill your champagne flute ⅓ of the way with apple cider. Top the rest off with Stigma sparkling wine. Add an apple slice for garnish, and enjoy!
Bishop Cocktail
The Bishop cocktail is a classic, though one might not expect rum and wine to pair as well as they do. The rum brings depth and dimension to the glass of wine, plus a hint of class.
- 3 oz rum
- 1 oz red wine
- 1 teaspoon simple syrup
- 1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime juice
Chill your red wine glass. Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into your chilled wine glass.
Sparkling Fall Sangria
If you’re looking for something light and bubbly, but festive, we’ve got just the sangria recipe for you.
- 1 bottle Stigma sparkling wine
- 1 cup bourbon
- 4 cups apple cider
- 3 ½ cup soda water
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
- 1 cup water
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup lemon juice
First you’ll have to make the spiced simple syrup. Combine sugar, water, and spices in a medium size saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stir, remove from heat and let sit.
For the sangria, combine sparkling wine, spiced simple syrup, soda water, apple cider, and lemon juice in a large pitcher. Serve in glasses and enjoy! If you’d like to get extra festive, garnish the rims of your glasses with caramel dip and cinnamon sugar.
Red Wine Hot Chocolate
This winter warmer is a crowd favorite, and perfect for cozying up near the fire. This recipe serves up to 8 mugs! For added difficulty, whip up your hot cocoa with homemade red wine hot chocolate bombs.
- 5 oz finely chopped dark chocolate (you can also use milk chocolate)
- 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp packed brown sugar
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 4 cups whole milk
- A pinch of salt
- 1 ½ cups fruity red wine
In a large saucepan, whisk together the chocolate, unsweetened cocoa powder, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the milk and bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat for about five minutes, whisking as you go. Once chocolate is melted, add a dash of salt. Stir, remove from heat, and add your red wine of choice. Serve in mugs (with marshmallows, of course!) You can also garnish with a sprinkling of cocoa powder and a cinnamon stick.
In Vino Finito
Do you have a favorite mulled wine recipe? Share it with us in the comments, and let’s compare notes!
