This warm mulled Italian wine recipe is all things festive and merry and is going to be your new holiday favorite. A big mug of Christmas wine, sherpa blanket and Holiday Inn playing are pretty much all I need for the holidays.

I first brought this mulled Chianti recipe to share with a gathering of my dear Williams Sonoma pals, each one amazing cooks. And to be honest, it didn’t go over that great. We kept discussing why and how I could tweak the recipe until I got home and realized I had not followed my own recipe as written: I had forgotten to add the brandy.

Yes, dear reader, food bloggers (especially middle-aged ones) forget.

Oh, the difference that 1 cup of brandy makes! It brought the missing sweetness and rich round note and helps make the best mulled wine. And you see below that it also meant I no longer needed the turbinado sugar I started testing the recipe with.

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Why holidays need mulled wine

When I worked at Willliams-Sonoma, our team spent hours hustling, selling and wrapping up high end pots and pans, kitchen tools. And we had the best time doing it, especially around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Celebrating our hard-work after hours with a big mug of spiced wine would have been lovely.

Mulled wine is the perfect Christmas open-house drink, or for a favorite things night with the girls. Our book club used to do a holiday ornament exchange and I could imagine serving it for that too.

Ingredient call-outs

I also love adding a few sprigs of rosemary to the pot. And definitely a sprig in the mug for a sweet garnish.

How to make Italian mulled wine

It doesn’t get any easier than simmering low and slow. Plus, your house is going to smell Christmasy good.

Here’s what I do:

1. Prep the orange by first zesting with large strips of peel. Then juice the orange.
2. To a large wide stockpot, add the Chianti, brandy and orange juice and bring to a simmer.

1. Add the sweetener and whole spices and lower the heat to the lowest simmers. At this point, I also cover the pan about 75%.
2. Continue simmering for about 1 – 1/12 hours.
3. Strain: Use a slotted spoon to scoop out all the whole spices. I also set a fine mesh strainer over another large stockpot and pour over the wine to remove any spice sediment.

Top tips for mulled wine success

Serving at home. Have a pretty Dutch oven set a portable burner set to low with mugs, cinnamon sticks, rosemary sprigs and a few star anise to sprinkle in. Festive!

Transporting. When I took the mulled wine to my friend’s house, I poured it into a thermal coffee carafe which made it so easy to transport and it stayed perfectly hot.

Make ahead. I make the mulled wine either the morning of or day before I plan to serve it.

For the day of, you can strain it and put it back in the pot and just let it hang out on the stove.

If serving the next day, I would refrigerate it right in the pan if you have room or transport it to a sealed bottle.

I also love sugaring the rosemary by dipping it in beaten egg white and then coating in superfine sugar.