Mulled wine

Mulled wine is red wine gently warmed with sugar and aromatic spices — typically cinnamon, cloves, star anise, citrus and sometimes a splash of spirit — and drunk hot. A fixture of the European winter and especially of Christmas markets, it is known as Glühwein in German-speaking countries, vin chaud in France, glögg in Scandinavia and vin brulé in Italy. The wine is heated, never boiled, so the alcohol and fresh fruit are not driven off, leaving a fragrant, lightly sweet, spice-laced drink served steaming in a mug or handled glass. It is one of Europe's oldest documented ways with wine, traceable to Roman antiquity.