Can You Serve Chilled Mulled Wine?

The cold weather months are a great opportunity to enjoy the variety of warm libations that are available. Classic options include the hot toddy cocktail and Irish coffee, but nothing says comforting quite like mulled wine. No matter the occasion, a pot of cozy mulled wine always ensures a good time. You won't always want to finish a big batch of wine in one sitting, however, meaning that there may sometimes be leftovers — and those leftovers go in the fridge. This may lead you to wonder if mulled wine can be enjoyed cold. The answer is yes, but be sure to consider a few factors when choosing to do so.

Chilling mulled wine is not only a great way to keep the once-hot version fresh; it is also an opportunity for those in less wintery regions to embrace the cold-weather spirit. When stored properly, mulled wine will last for anywhere from five days to two weeks, at which point the wine will have oxidized to a degree that it will no longer taste very pleasant. During that window, the wine can either be gently reheated or served cold straight from the fridge. It is worth noting that sweet foods and drinks taste less sweet when they are cold due to the temperature inhibiting our taste buds, so if you make mulled wine with the intention of enjoying it chilled, you may wish to select a sweeter wine than usual or add more sweetener to adjust for this difference.

It is important to store your mulled wine correctly when chilling it in order to achieve the best flavor and to keep it as fresh as possible for as long as possible. When prepping mulled wine to go into the fridge, be sure to place it in an airtight glass container. Glass is non-reactive with wine, meaning it will not alter the flavor of the wine when they come into contact versus other materials which have the potential to do so. It is also a smart idea to place the wine into a container that can hold all of the liquid without too much leftover space. This will eliminate excessive exposure to the air that will cause the wine to oxidize faster.

If you are worried about making your chilled mulled wine last long enough, or want to try this take on the drink without going through the fuss of cooking it first, there is an easy hack that may better suit your needs. All you need to do is make a spiced simple syrup with all of the mulling spices you would normally add directly to the wine. This syrup keeps much longer than mulled wine — up to a month in the fridge — and then can be stirred into fresh wine as desired for a classic flavor on demand.