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The best wine for mulled wine is a cheap, fruity, soft red with low tannin and no obvious oak: think Merlot, Grenache, a young Shiraz or a supermarket Cabernet Merlot blend under fifteen dollars. The spices, sugar and heat will flatten anything subtle, so the expensive bottle stays in the cupboard and the honest cheap one goes in the pot.
This guide covers the nine reds that work best, the ones that turn bitter or soupy, a stock-checked bottle you can buy this week, our basic recipe with three twists, and the standard-drinks maths nobody at the Christmas party wants to hear.
Table of Contents
The Short Answer
- Merlot: soft, plummy, low tannin. The safest choice if you only pick one.
- Grenache: bright red fruit and a natural sweetness that loves cinnamon and orange.
- Young Shiraz: big fruit and a bit of pepper, made for cloves and star anise. Skip the oaky, expensive ones.
What Makes a Wine Good for Mulling
Mulling is a rough process. You heat the wine, add sugar and citrus, and steep it with spices for half an hour. Four things decide whether the result tastes warm and festive or like cough syrup.
- Fruit, lots of it. Ripe plum, cherry and berry flavours survive heating. Earthy or savoury flavours do not; they just go muddy.
- Low tannin. Tannin is the drying, grippy feeling in big reds. Heat and spice make it taste bitter, so soft reds win.
- Little or no oak. Vanilla and toast from barrels fight with the cinnamon and cloves. Unoaked or lightly oaked wines blend in better.
- A price you will not mourn. Ten to fifteen dollars is the sweet spot. Everything you paid extra for in a thirty-dollar bottle is the first thing the spices erase.
Alcohol matters too. A 13 to 14 percent wine gives you a warming drink; a 15.5 percent monster plus a slug of brandy gives you a very short evening.
The 9 Best Wines for Mulled Wine
1. Merlot
Soft, round and plummy, with gentle tannin. Merlot is the wine people mean when they say “smooth red”, and that smoothness is exactly what you want once the cinnamon goes in. Look for South Eastern Australia or Riverland Merlot around ten dollars.
2. Grenache
Strawberry, raspberry and a whiff of spice, with a natural sweetness that means you can use less sugar. Grenache from McLaren Vale or the Barossa is a brilliant mulling wine, and blends labelled GSM (Grenache, Shiraz, Mourvèdre) work just as well.
3. Shiraz
Australia’s big red is a natural with cloves, star anise and orange peel because it already tastes a bit peppery. The trick is to buy young, cheap Shiraz with no oak talk on the label, not the heavy, expensive Barossa style.
4. Zinfandel
Jammy, ripe and often a little sweet already, Zinfandel is the American mulling favourite. It is harder to find cheaply in Australia; if you spot one under twenty dollars, grab it.
5. Malbec
Dark fruit, soft tannin and a plush texture. Argentine Malbec is usually cheap, fruity and unoaked at the bottom of the range, which makes it close to ideal.
6. Cabernet Merlot blends
The Merlot softens the Cabernet, and the Cabernet adds a bit of blackcurrant depth. Every supermarket has one for under ten dollars, and it is a reliable mulling wine as long as it is not heavily oaked.
7. Tempranillo
Cherry, dried fig and a savoury edge. Spanish Tempranillo is the base for Spain’s own hot wine, and cheap Australian versions from the Barossa or Riverland work the same way.
8. Sangiovese
Lighter and more acidic than the others, with sour cherry and herbs. Sangiovese makes a fresher, less syrupy mulled wine. Add a little more sugar and go easy on the brandy.
9. Pinot Noir
Light, silky and full of red berries. Pinot Noir makes a delicate mulled wine that suits a milder spice mix (cinnamon and orange, hold the cloves). Use a cheap one; mulling a good Pinot is a crime in at least three countries.
What to Avoid
- Big, tannic reds: young Cabernet Sauvignon, Nebbiolo, Tannat. The tannin turns bitter when heated.
- Anything heavily oaked. Toasty vanilla plus cinnamon plus cloves is too much of everything.
- Wine you would not drink cold. Mulling hides faults, but corked or vinegary wine still tastes corked or vinegary. Warm.
- Expensive bottles. Not because it is snobbish, because it is a waste. The spices erase the difference.
Drink One Tonight
If you want a bottle that ticks every box above, this is the one we would put in the pot. Fruity, soft, unoaked and about eleven dollars. We checked it was in stock at Just Wines on 6 September 2026.
Tempus Two L2 Fleur Grenache 2020
The friendliest cheap red in the feed, and mulling is exactly what friendly cheap reds are for.
- Grenache: bright red fruit and natural sweetness that love cinnamon and orange
- Soft tannin, so no bitterness after heating
- No obvious oak to fight the spices
- About eleven dollars, so buy two for a party
- Light enough that it wants a splash of brandy for a proper winter warmer
- Not much use if you want a dark, brooding mulled wine; pick the Shiraz for that
Our Basic Mulled Wine Recipe
This makes about six mugs and takes 25 minutes. It is the base for the three twists below.
Ingredients
- 1 bottle (750 ml) soft, fruity red wine
- 250 ml fresh orange juice (or water if you prefer it less sweet)
- 60 ml brandy (optional, but recommended)
- 60 g brown sugar or 3 tablespoons honey
- 1 orange, sliced, plus a strip of peel
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 whole cloves
- 2 star anise
- A small piece of fresh ginger, sliced (optional)
Method
- Put the sugar, orange juice, orange slices and all the spices in a large pot with about 100 ml of the wine. Warm gently until the sugar dissolves, about five minutes.
- Add the rest of the wine and the brandy.
- Heat slowly until it is steaming, then keep it just below a simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Do not let it boil; boiling cooks off the fruit flavour and makes it taste stewed.
- Taste. Add more sugar if it is sharp, more orange if it is flat.
- Strain out the spices (or fish out the cloves at least) and serve in mugs or heatproof glasses with a fresh orange slice.
Leftovers keep in the fridge for three days. Reheat gently, never in a rolling boil.
How Strong Is Mulled Wine?
People assume the heat burns the alcohol off. It does not, not at these temperatures and times. Using the model from our wine calorie calculator, a bottle of 13.5 percent red plus 60 ml of brandy holds about 99 grams of alcohol. Split across six mugs, that is roughly 16 grams each, or about 1.6 Australian standard drinks per mug, close to a large restaurant glass of red.
Each mug also carries about 180 calories (roughly 750 kJ) once the sugar and orange juice go in. Skip the brandy and swap the juice for water and that drops to about 145 calories and 1.3 standard drinks.
Three Twists on the Basic Recipe
Pomegranate mulled wine
Replace the orange juice with 250 ml pomegranate juice and add a handful of pomegranate seeds to each mug. Sharper, prettier and very good with Grenache or Pinot Noir.
Spiced apple cider mulled wine
Use 375 ml of wine and 375 ml of cloudy apple juice, add two sliced apples and a strip of lemon peel, and halve the sugar. Lighter, lower in alcohol and popular with people who say they do not like red wine.
Chocolate orange mulled wine
Stir 50 g of dark chocolate into the pot at the end until it melts, add extra orange peel and finish each mug with a pinch of sea salt. Works best with Shiraz or Malbec. It is dessert; treat it as one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best red wine for mulled wine?
A cheap, fruity, low-tannin red with little oak. Merlot, Grenache and young Shiraz are the safest choices, and a supermarket Cabernet Merlot blend under fifteen dollars works well too.
Can I use white or rosé wine for mulled wine?
Yes. White mulled wine (common in Germany and Austria) works with an off-dry Riesling or Pinot Gris, lemon instead of orange, and gentler spices such as cinnamon, vanilla and cardamom. Rosé mulls the same way; use a fruity one and drop the cloves.
Does mulled wine still have alcohol in it?
Yes, nearly all of it. Alcohol only starts to evaporate at 78 degrees and needs a long, hard boil to go anywhere. A gentle 20-minute simmer leaves you with about 1.6 standard drinks per mug if you followed our recipe.
Should I use expensive wine for mulled wine?
No. The sugar, citrus and spices cover the details you pay for in a good bottle. Spend ten to fifteen dollars and put the difference towards decent brandy.
Can I make mulled wine in a slow cooker?
Yes, and it is the easiest way for a party. Combine everything, set it to low for one to two hours, then keep it on warm. Never use the high setting; it will boil.
Is there a non-alcoholic mulled wine?
Use an alcohol-free red or a mix of red grape juice and cranberry juice with the same spices and a splash of lemon to cut the sweetness. Our alcohol-free wine guide lists reds that still taste like wine when heated.
If mulled wine is your winter drink, the best wines for sangria is the summer version of the same question, and red wine with soda water covers the lazy option in between. For the alcohol-free crowd, start with our best non-alcoholic wines in Australia.
This post contains affiliate links. If you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. It keeps the wine flowing and the reviews honest.
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