For those of us from cooler climates something synonymous with the cold weather, dark evenings, and Christmas markets is a mug of hot red wine. That’s Mulled Wine for the English speakers, Glühwein for the Germans, and Glögg for the Scandinavians.
Here in Portugal hot wine is quite literally Vinho Quente. There’s something special about citrus fruits and spices adding to the aroma of hot steaming wine. Although it’s common in much of Europe and even a few of the Christmas markets in Portugal, it’s hard to find in the Algarve.
So, we’ve come up with our very own hot wine (Vinho Quente) recipe for Portugal with its own selection of Portuguese ingredients. The star of course is some fresh Algarve oranges, and a healthy splash of Port wine for some extra sweetness and richness.
How to Make Vinho Quente
Vinho Quente – Authentic Portuguese Mulled Wine
4
servings10
minutes5
minutes221
kcalVinho Quente is literally hot wine and is Portugal’s traditional version of spiced or mulled wine. Perfect for those autumn nights to warm you up!
Ingredients
1 Bottle Red Wine (750ml)
1 Cup Vintage Port
1 Orange – Sliced
1 tbsp Sugar
1 Vanilla Pod
1 Cinnamon Stick
Directions
- Add half of the sliced oranges to a deep pot with the sugar and turn on the heat.
- Once the sugar starts to melt, stir the syrup and gently press the orange slices with a wooden spoon to release some of the juice.
- Then add the port wine, the vanilla pod and its seeds, and cinnamon sticks to the pot.
- Once the mixture starts to steam and is fragrant, add the red wine and the rest of the orange slices.
- Heat the rest of the mixture up, but don’t allow it to boil (you don’t want to cook off the alcohol)
- That’s it, serve into mugs or a large pitcher. Use some orange zest and cinnamon sticks to garnish if you’d like!
Notes
- For a spicier and warmer kick, you can add some fresh ginger root.
- Diced apples, and red fruits can be added at the start for some extra flavour, but we like to keep ours simple and let the wines and oranges speak up!
- If you like it sweeter, then you can add an extra sweetener like honey or syrup. We find the Port adds its own sweetness so we don’t add too much extra sugar.
- If you like your hot wine a little less alcoholic then a cup of water does the trick.
Optional Extras:
- For a spicier and warmer kick, you can add some fresh ginger root.
- Diced apples, and red fruits can be added at the start for some extra flavour, but we like to keep ours simple and let the wines and oranges speak up!
- If you like it sweeter, then you can add an extra sweetener like honey or syrup. We find the Port adds its own sweetness so we don’t add too much extra sugar.
- If you like your hot wine a little less alcoholic then a cup of water does the trick.
