🍷 Glögg

Glögg is a spiced wine drink, and its Swedish name comes from glödgat vin, heated wine. ³ EU law protects it under three names, Viiniglögi, Vinglögg and Karštas vynas, and fixes the basics: red or white wine only, flavoured mainly with cinnamon and/or cloves, with at least 7% alcohol by volume. ¹

Where the name comes from. The dictionary of the Swedish Academy explains glögg as a shortening of glödgat vin or glödgat brännvin, that is, heated wine or heated spirit. It records the word from 1828, and between 1857 and 1874 also the spelling glödg. In older use the drink was heated wine, spirit or cognac with sugar and spices, and a glögg could also mean one glass of it. ³

What the law requires. Under Annex II, Part B, point 9 of Regulation (EU) No 251/2014, glögg is an aromatised wine-based drink. It must be made exclusively from red or white wine, flavoured mainly with cinnamon and/or cloves, and have an actual alcoholic strength of at least 7% vol. If it is made from white wine, the sales name must say so, for example with the word white. ¹

Glögg and Glühwein. The German Glühwein in point 8 of the same list has the same three conditions, but its definition adds that water may not be added, apart from water that comes with the permitted sweeteners. The glögg definition has no such sentence. The regulation also forbids presenting a drink that does not meet these rules with words such as type, style or like next to the protected name. ¹

The strong version. A separate product, Väkevä viiniglögi or Starkvinsglögg, is an aromatised wine: alcohol is added to it, and its typical taste comes from cloves and/or cinnamon. An aromatised wine must contain at least 75% grapevine products and have from 14.5% to under 22% vol, while an aromatised wine-based drink such as ordinary glögg needs at least 50% wine and from 4.5% to under 14.5% vol. ¹

Sugar and spices. The regulation lists what may sweeten aromatised wine products: white and other sugars, dextrose, fructose, glucose syrup, grape must and concentrated grape must, burned sugar, honey and carob syrup. The flavour may come from flavourings and from aromatic herbs, spices and flavouring foodstuffs, and together they must give the drink a taste different from that of wine. ¹

What the label must show. Since 8 December 2023, aromatised wine products sold in the EU, glögg included, must carry a nutrition declaration and a list of ingredients. The bottle itself may show only the energy value, marked with the symbol E, if the full declaration and the ingredients are given by electronic means indicated on the label, without tracking users and without advertising. ²

Heat does not remove the alcohol. USDA cooking tables show that alcohol stirred into a hot liquid and then taken off the heat keeps about 85% of its alcohol. Even 15 minutes of simmering leaves about 40%, one hour about 25% and two and a half hours about 5%. So briefly warmed glögg stays almost as strong as the label says. ⁵

Why it matters to you. Check the label for the legal name and the strength: Starkvinsglögg has 14.5% vol or more, ordinary glögg less. ¹ If you make glögg at home often, Sweden's food agency advises adults to keep cassia cinnamon to about one teaspoon a day and children to half, because its coumarin can harm the liver; Ceylon cinnamon contains much less. ⁴ WHO stresses that there is no safe level of alcohol consumption. ⁶