Celebrate the Winter Solstice (Shabe Yalda) and the longest night of the year with this warm and spiced pomegranate mulled wine. Keep it warm in a slow cooker and serve it at your next holiday party! Find more of my pomegranate recipes.
In Persian culture, the winter solstice is celebrated with the holiday, Shabe Yalda. It is not as big of a holiday like our new year, Nowruz (the first day of Spring), but it is still a very special time.
During the ancient times, Persians followed the Zoroastrian religion. With the days getting longer and the nights shorter, this marked as a victory of the Sun over darkness.
Typically, for Shabe Yalda, many Persians gather together around the korsi, a low, table covered with a thick comforter that covers all sides. A small pan filled with hot coals is placed under the table, or for modern times, a small electric heater.
Families would sit by the korsi and put their legs under the blanket and enjoy the warmth together. Fruits and nuts would be shared and hot tea would be enjoyed. Pomegranates are a staple for celebrating Shabe Yalda, as it is readily available during this time of year.
So for this winter solstice, I decided to make some pomegranate mulled wine.
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Recipe highlights
- Simple: Mulled wine is super simple to make. Add the ingredients in a pot and simmer it until the flavors meld together! It can also be made in a slow cooker.
- Flavor: I am not a huge drinker, but this mulled wine isn’t too strong for me and I love the flavor of the pomegranate with the cardamom, cloves and cinnamon. It’s like a warm spiced sangria!
- Holiday Cheer: This is a great cocktail for parties to celebrate Christmas, Hannukah or any fall-winter holidays.
- Versatile: You change up the fruit slices and swap out oranges for pears or apples. You can also serve this warm or cold. It tastes even better the next day!
Ingredients you need
- Red wine: Mulled wine is a little fruity, so choose a fruity wine like a Merlot or Shiraz.
- Pomegranate juice: You can use freshly squeezed or store bought pomegranate juice.
- Brandy: I am not a huge connoisseur on liqueur. But if you have a choice on what kind of brandy to use, try to use a fruity version.
- Pomegranate arils: You can add as much or as little pomegranate arils as you like. One large pomegranate will give you about 1 cup of arils. You can learn how to cut and seed a pomegranate here.
- Granulated sugar: You can also sweeten your concoction with brown sugar, honey or agave syrup.
- Orange: I love the smell and flavor of oranges. And the slices look gorgeous with touches of crimson from sitting in the mulled wine.
- Cinnamon sticks: Nothing screams Christmas like the smell of cinnamon. You do not want ground cinnamon but the sticks themselves.
- Cloves: Another favorite scent of holiday baking comes from cloves. Again, we are using whole cloves and not ground.
- Cardamom pods: This is the Persian touch to my mulled wine. We use a lot of cardamom in our tea and in our baking. You want the whole pods.
Step-by-step directions
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- Combine ingredients. In a large sauce pan combine red wine, pomegranate juice, brandy and sugar. Simmer and stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Add aromatics. Add orange slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom pods. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, but do not bring to a boil.
- Serve. Remove cloves and cardamom pods. Ladle wine and orange slices into glasses and a pomegranate arils.
Expert Tips and Recipe FAQS
You can also put everything in a slow cooker and heat on low.
You can spice the mulled wine to cater to your own preferences. For fruit, you can add slices of apples or pears instead of oranges. For kick in flavor, add star of anise and/or peppercorns.
If you want more pomegranate delciousness, I have several wonderful pomegranate cocktails you try:
I also have a slew of pomegranate mocktails and a pomegranate shrub, too! If you haven’t noticed, my family and I love all things pomegranate so do check out all of my pomegranate recipes, savory AND sweet!
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftover mulled wine in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 5 days.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
Although mulled wine is by name alcoholic, you can modify this recipe to be a warm spiced pomegranate drink. Dilute with a little water as pomegranate juice is pretty powerful on it’s own and warm it up with the spices for a wonderful non-alcoholic spiced mocktail.
Yes! If you are serving this at a holiday party, you can easily make it ahead and reheat it. You can serve it in a slow cooker, too, just keep it on low or warm.
Pomegranate Mulled Wine
Ingredients
- 750 mL red wine
- 2 cup pomegranate juice
- ½ cup brandy
- ½ cup pomegranate arils
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 orange sliced into rounds
- 2 cinnamon sticks 3-inches long
- 4 cloves
- 6 cardamom pods
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan over medium-low heat combine red wine, pomegranate juice, brandy, and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
- Add pomegranate arils, orange slices, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom pods in a cheesecloth.
- Continue cooking over medium-low heat, but do not bring to a boil
- Serve warm after approximately 30 minutes. The longer it sits, the more flavor your drink will have. Strain out the cloves and cardamom pods before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
Thank you for including recipe for non-alcoholic version of the drink. I never had warm/hot pomegranate drink and this is quite intriguing. Happy Yalda, dear Laura! 🙂