The arrival of mulled wine in the shops is as much a sign that the festive season has started as the hanging of outdoor Christmas lights.
This drink has become synonymous with the season in the same way that turkey and Christmas pudding are, but how did that come to be the case?
People first adopted the idea of adding spices to wine and warming it up in ancient Greece. Wine was one of the most popular beverages in that civilisation, and it was felt that the addition of spices helped with preservation. Heating the drink was a way of keeping warm in cold weather.
The idea was then adopted in the Roman Empire, which borrowed many traditions from the Greeks. Again, heated wine with spices was seen as a good drink for keeping out the cold and reducing the risk of illness.
The tradition of drinking hot, spiced wine during the winter months continued throughout the medieval period. It was especially popular towards the north of Sweden, where winters are bitterly cold.
In terms of its association with the festive season, this seems to have been simply a by-product of Christianity. Mulled wine was already a staple winter drink, so when Christians began to celebrate Christmas at that time of the year, it made sense to keep the tradition as part of that.
Germany was particularly keen on it, and the wine became central to its annual Christmas markets. The spices used to flavour it vary from citrus and orange to cinnamon and cloves – all now associated with everyone’s favourite time of year.
