🍷 Mulled wine
Also known as: Glühwein, hot spiced wine, vin chaud
Wine heated with spices; in EU law Glühwein is a wine-based drink flavoured mainly with cinnamon and/or cloves, at least 7% vol.
Mulled wine is wine heated with spices; in German it is called Glühwein. In EU law, Glühwein is an aromatised wine-based drink: it is made only from red or white wine, flavoured mainly with cinnamon and/or cloves, and has an actual alcoholic strength of at least 7% vol. Adding water is forbidden, and if it is made from white wine, the name must be completed with a word such as «white».
As an aromatised wine-based drink it must contain at least 50% wine by volume. It may be sweetened and coloured, but no alcohol may be added, and its strength stays below 14.5% vol. The Nordic and Baltic version, Viiniglögi, Vinglögg or Karštas vynas, follows the same rules: red or white wine, cinnamon and/or cloves, at least 7% vol.
Why this matters to you. A bottle labelled Glühwein must be made from wine with these spices, without added water or spirit; a white version must say so on the label. Even served hot, mulled wine is an alcoholic drink, and WHO notes that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for health.
How it connects to Wine
🍷 Mulled wine → kind of → 🍷 Mulled wine and fortified wines → related → 🍷 Wine
How it connects to Spirits
🍷 Mulled wine → kind of → 🍷 Mulled wine and fortified wines → kind of → 🥃 Spirits
Links
- Next step
- 🍷 Christmas market
- What is made from it
- 🍷 Red wine
- Part of
- 🍷 Aromatised wine, 🍷 Mulled wine and fortified wines
- Where it is made
- 🗺️ German wine, 🗺️ Austrian wine, 🗺️ Ukrainian wine
- Similar and different
- 🍷 Red wine, 🍷 Posset, 🥃 Hüttentee, 🥃 Jägertee, 🥃 Krambambula
- Wine and milk
- 🌙 Warm milk at bedtime
- Part of which tradition?
- 🍷 Christmas market
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that Glühwein must be made from red wine?
No. White wine is allowed too, but then the name must say so, for example with the word white.
How much wine must be in Glühwein?
At least half of the volume, since it is an aromatised wine-based drink.
What is the Nordic and Baltic version called?
Viiniglögi, Vinglögg or Karštas vynas; the rules are the same.
Recipes
What to read next
- 🍷 Christmas market — A European winter holiday market where people drink mulled wine.
- 🌙 Warm milk at bedtime — An everyday bedtime ritual.
- 🍷 Red wine — Wine from dark grapes that ferments with the skins and takes its colour from them.
- 🗺️ German wine — The country's wine and winemaking: regions, grapes and appellations.
- 🥃 Jägertee — Jägertee is an Austrian liqueur with an EU-protected name: ethyl alcohol with black tea, mandatory Inländerrum rum and orange and lemon extracts. At least 22.5% ABV in the bottle, sugar from 100 g/l, usually diluted with hot water.
Similar
🍷 Sangria · 🍷 Quinquina · 🍷 Americano (aromatised wine) · 🍷 Bitter aromatised wine · 🍷 Vermouth · 🍷 Lieblich
⚠️ Spirit drinks contain alcohol and are for adults only. Alcohol harms health. Do not drink during pregnancy or before driving; check the label for ingredients and possible allergens.
What it includes
Sources
- Regulation (EU) No 251/2014 on aromatised wine products (consolidated 07.12.2021), Art. 3 and Annex II B(8) Glühwein, B(9) Viiniglögi/Vinglögg/Karštas vynas
- WHO/Europe: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health (04.01.2023)
- Wikidata Q6584