A brief history of mulled wine

From health tonic to festive treat, Sara Read looks back at some of the earliest mentions of this warming winter drink

- ■Sara Read is a lecturer in English at Loughborough University.

WHEN frost sparkles in the morning and our breath is visible as we venture outside, thoughts turn to winter warming treats like mulled wine - a drink full of ingredients that have become synonymous with Christmas.

Mulled wine is made by adding spices such as cinnamon, cloves, ginger, mace and nutmeg to sweetened red wine, which is then warmed gently.

Across Europe and Scandinavia, it can be purchased in many pubs, bars and festive markets - while supermarket shelves groan with bottles of ready-made mulled wines for you to heat at home.

There are many different English recipes out there, including some dating back to the 14th century - from a collection of manuscripts which later became known as The Forme of Cury.

The beverage made by following this recipe would certainly have packed a punch, as it contains several spices from the ginger family including galangal, in addition to the more familiar ones.

And before wine was known as mulled, drinking wine flavoured with spices has a long history.

There is a mention of drinking spiced wine in the biblical poem the Song of Solomon, which states: "I would give you spiced wine to drink."

It is thought that spice-infused wine was introduced to Britain by the Romans.