Have you got leftover mulled wine after the festive season? You are not the only one!Ā Mulled wine is often made in really large batches which can make it very difficult to use it all up before it goes bad. So, what do you do with it?
Can You Freeze Mulled Wine?
Yes, you can freeze mulled wine for up to 6 months. Alcohol does not freeze well, especially when the alcohol content is high. Fortunately, mulled wine isn’t high in alcohol, so will freeze okay.
Do Does Mulled Wine freeze well? Yes
Can you refreeze Mulled Wine? No
How To Freeze Mulled Wine
Freezing mulled wine isnāt a difficult process. Your best choices are to divide it out into portions and freeze it in the perfect sized portions so that you can grab out just the amount you need.
How to Freeze Leftover Mulled Wine
If you want to freeze large portions of mulled wine for enjoying as a drink in the future then this is the approach to take when freezing it:
- Grab Bags: To start with, you will need to ensure you have enough freezer-safe containers with lids, some liquid safe freezer bags or some high-quality freezer bags and some large containers you can put in the freezer to keep the bags upright until they are frozen.
- Label Now: Label the bags or containers with the date and contents. With liquids you plan to freeze, you need to do this before filling the bags as it is very difficult to do so afterwards with the content sloshing around.
- Portion: Ladle a portion of mulled wine into each container. Make sure you leave some space at the top of the container so that the wine can expand as it freezes.
- Seal: Seal the containers tightly. If you are using standard freezer bags then you will need to add a second bag and ensure you keep the bags upright at all times. It can help to stand them up in containers until the contents are completely frozen. You don’t want to flood your freezer with mulled wine!
- Freeze: Pop the containers of mulled wine into the freezer and freeze.
How to Freeze Mulled Wine to Make Slushies
In order to make slushies and blended mulled wine treats you will need to freeze the wine in smaller portions. Ice cube trays are perfect for this:
- Pour into Ice Cubes: Grab some ice cube trays and pour the mulled wine into it. You will need to leave a gap at the top to allow the mulled wine to expand.
- Flash Freeze: Pop the trays into the freezer to freeze.
- Portion into Bags: When the mulled wine has frozen completely you can take the ice cube trays out of the freezer again. Transfer the ice cubes from the tray into a freezer bag.
- Seal: Seal the bag tightly and label it with the date and contents.
- Final Freeze: Pop into the freezer until you need them.
When you want to make your mulled wine slushie, you can grab the ice cubes out of the freezer, put them into a blender and blend until you have the texture you prefer. Delicious!
3 Tips for Freezing Mulled Wine
Now you know how to freeze it, we’ve got our 3 top tips which we strongly recommend following when freezing mulled wine to have the best results:
Reheat With Extra Spices
If you’re looking to enjoy mulled wine as a drink after freezing it then add some extra spices when reheating it to give it some oomph. Try adding orange zest and cinnamon sticks.
Make Mulled Wine Lollies
Make your mulled wine, pour it into ice cream mulled and set. An interesting and adult twist on mulled wine and ice lollies.
Create Mulled Wine Concentrate
Instead of freezing ready-to-go mulled wine, try reducing the wine right down until you have a syrup. Freeze this and you’ll have a concentrated cube of mulled wine flavour. You can then water this down with water when you want to reheat it.
How Long Can You Freeze Mulled Wine?
Whilst it isnāt easy to find information on how long you can freeze mulled wine specifically, you should be able to freeze it for about as long as you can freeze any wine which is for about six months.
Using it before this ensures you get the best quality wine without too much quality and taste deterioration! After this, you should throw any unused mulled wine away just to ensure you donāt use it after its use-by date.
Once opened, a bottle of mulled wine can be kept in the fridge for around 3 days before it loses its flavour and become acrid and bitter.
How Do You Defrost Mulled Wine?
As mentioned earlier you can use mulled wine ice cubes to make yourself a mulled wine slushie. If you are doing this then you donāt need to worry about defrosting it at all, Just pop it into the blender and blend.
Another way you can use mulled wine ice cubes is to add flavour to your food. Again if you are doing this then you donāt need to defrost the mulled wine. You can add the ice cube to the recipe and defrost and heat up at the same time.
Easy and quick!
If you do want to use your mulled wine in the traditional way, then you can either pop a portion into a saucepan and defrost and then heat up on the hob on a very low heat.
Alternatively, you can put the mulled wine into a bowl and put it in the fridge to thaw out overnight before reheating.
Can You Refreeze Mulled Wine?
Once you have thawed out your mulled wine you should NOT attempt to refreeze it.
It is likely by this time you have already reheated it and all this heating and cooling can have an effect on the wine. It can deteriorate it, and it could even spoil, so it really isnāt worth the risk.
Does Mulled Wine Freeze Well?
On the whole mulled wine does freeze well.
We can’t say that there will not be any change. There can be a change in the flavour after freezing but this shouldnāt stop you from enjoying it.
If you are using it in cooking or as a slushie then you are even less likely to notice any change in flavour so these are fantastic methods for using up any leftover mulled wine.
Related FAQs
If you’ve still got questions about freezing mulled wine or wine in general, then these may help:
Yes, you can reheat mulled wine but you should avoid bringing it to a sustained boil. Allow it to simmer otherwise you risk diluting the spiced flavour resulting in a bitter mulled wine.
Yes, mulled wine can be microwaved. It takes around 2 to 3 minutes on a high heat. Be warned, the mulled wine will be very hot at this point!
