By admin 
We looked up the best ready-to-drink mulled wine you can buy at the supermarket, and discovered that the alcohol content can vary significantly depending on which bottle you buy.
Ten bottles of mulled wine – including supermarket offerings from Aldi, Lidl and Tesco – were sampled and enjoyed by our 63-strong consumer panel in a blind taste test to discover the best.
Sainsbury’s triumphed over the competition, but some of the more expensive supermarket mulled wines failed to impress.
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Best mulled wine
Sainsbury’s was the standout winner in our test, followed by Co-op.
Aldi and Lidl did not score as well, but are both slightly cheaper and offer a nice compromise between price and quality.
Best Buy: Sainsbury’s Mulled Wine – 73%
£3 for 75cl (£4 per 100cl), 5% ABV (alcohol by volume)
If you are looking for mulled wine, don’t think about it, buy this one.
Sainsbury’s mulled wine was the clear favorite in our taste test, receiving high scores from tasters for its appearance, taste and mouthfeel.
Most thought it had a well-balanced sweetness and bitter taste, and two-thirds also thought the strength of the herbal flavor was just right. A similar number felt the fruitiness also hit the spot.
More than half of our tasters found the strength of the alcohol flavor to be just right, while just under a third wanted a stronger hit.
Overall, this is a real crowd pleaser that will go down well with guests.
Available from Sainsbury’s.
Co-op Mulled Wine – 68%
£4.50 for 75cl (£5.99 for 100cl), 8% ABV
Co-op’s festive wine range lost some flavor in terms of taste compared to Sainsbury’s, but it’s still a solid choice.
More than half of tasters agreed with the level of alcohol flavor, but keep in mind that at 8% alcohol, it is the third strongest wine tested. It also impressed with its fruitiness.
About half thought the sweetness and spice levels were perfect, but a third would have preferred a slightly spicier kick.
Available from Cooperative.
Three Mills Mulled Wine – 68%
£4.50 for 75cl (£5.99 per 100cl), 5% ABV
This mulled wine is comparable to Co-op in price and general approval from our tasters.
Most thought the sweetness and bitterness balance was about right, looked good and tasted fruity enough.
The alcohol content is 5% and most were happy with the liquor flavour, although a third felt it was somewhat lacking.
Available from Amazon And Ocado.
Aldi Mulled Wine – 67%
£2.79 for 75cl (£3.72 per 100ml), 5% ABV
Another decent wine, it’s also the cheapest on the test. Our panel thought it looked nice and thought it had a pleasant mouthfeel.
Nearly two-thirds thought the bitterness worked well, while more than half enjoyed the sweetness and fruitiness. A similar percentage said spice levels were about right.
The strength of the alcohol flavor was rated well by more than half of our tasters, but about a third wanted a stronger taste.
Available from Aldi.
Lidl Baywoods Mulled Wine – 67%
£2.79 for 75cl (£3.72 per 100ml), 5% ABV
Lidl’s offering scored generally the same as Aldi, receiving high ratings for its attractive color and pleasant mouthfeel.
About two-thirds of tasters liked the fruity bitterness, while a slightly smaller proportion said the sweetness was good.
More than half agreed with the strength of the alcohol flavor and festive spice content.
Available at Lidl (in-store only).
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How mulled wine from Asda, M&S and Waitrose compares
Asda is slightly behind Aldi and Lidl, followed by M&S and Waitrose.
Tesco Vineyards Mulled Wine finished last overall, losing points for both alcohol and spice flavours. Here’s how the rest measured up:
- Asda Mulled Wine – 66%. Just under half of our tasters were satisfied with the alcohol flavor of this wine, but most found it too weak. Likewise, with spiciness, many wanted a stronger flavor. £3 for 75cl (£4 per 100ml), 5.5% ABV, available from Asda.
- Waitrose Mulled Wine – 65%. Other than the color, this wine didn’t stand out much to our panel of tasters. A significant number found the alcohol flavor too much (it’s stronger than most at 10% ABV). And about half thought it was sweet and overly bitter. £5.49 for 75cl (£7.32 per 100ml), 10% ABV, available from Guard rose.
- M&S Red Mulled Wine – 64%. It is the most expensive and powerful wine we tested with an alcohol content of 11%. More than a third of our tasters found the alcohol taste too strong. About half were happy with the spiciness, fruitiness and bitterness. £6 for 75cl (£8 per 100ml), 11% ABV, aavailable from M&S (in-store only) and Ocado.
- Morrisons Winter Warmer Mulled Wine – 64%. This mulled wine looked appealing, but only a third of our tasters were satisfied with the strength of the alcohol flavor and about half wanted a stronger herbal flavor. £4 for 75cl (£5.33 per 100ml), 5% ABV, available from Morrisons.
- Tesco Vineyards Mulled Wine – 62%. A beautiful wine, but ultimately disappointing. Less than half of our tasters were satisfied with the alcohol taste, only a third liked the spice content and almost half thought it was too bitter. £3 for 75cl (£4 per 100ml), 5% ABV, available from Tesco.
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How alcoholic is mulled wine?
It depends which one you buy – we found that the levels vary considerably. Mulled wine is generally less alcoholic than regular wine. The bottles we tested range from 5% ABV to 11% ABV.
However, a higher alcohol percentage did not lead to better scores in our taste test. In fact, our best Best Buy from Sainsbury’s had the least alcohol at 5% ABV.
A small glass of 125 ml of 5% mulled wine is 0.6 units, while the same amount of 11% wine is 1.4 units. The government recommended limit is 14 units per week.
Most store-bought mulled wine contains similar ingredients: red wine, water, sugar, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves), citrus fruits and berries – but we found some curious extras in the ingredient lists, including carrot and hibiscus.
Tips for making the best mulled wine
If you buy ready-made mulled wine, you can spice things up by adding spices, such as cinnamon sticks and star anise, or citrus fruits. These can add flavor and a sense of occasion.
Our wine experts also recommend a dash of ruby or tawny port – or cognac – to enhance the flavour.
For stronger bottles you can add a little water to allow the contents to penetrate further.
If you want, you can also easily make your own mulled wine.
Pour a bottle of red wine into a large saucepan and add a cinnamon stick, a few star anise and a few cloves. Add two strips of lemon or orange peel (or slices if you prefer), plus about four tablespoons of sugar and heat gently.
Some people prefer to infuse the herbs by first heating them with sugar and a little water and then adding the wine and fruit. This helps prevent overheating the wine or stewing the fruit.
You don’t have to buy expensive red wine to make mulled wine. Instead, go for a cheap and cheerful juicy, fruity choice, such as primitivo or Chilean merlot.
Best red wines – see which bottles our expert tasters recommend
Is non-alcoholic mulled wine available?
Low- or alcohol-free mulled wine is available in most supermarkets. This is what we found:
The ingredients typically consist of grape juice, elderberry juice, currant juice, oranges and lemons, in addition to the classic mulled wine spices, such as cinnamon and cloves.
You can also make your own. Check this out recipe from BBC Good Food that includes pomegranate and apple juice plus blackberries.
How we tested mulled wine
All mulled wines tested were tasted and assessed blindly by a panel of 63 people in our specialist testing laboratory in October 2024.
We recruited a panel of people who buy and drink mulled wine, broadly representing the demographic profile of adults in Britain (age range, gender distribution and more).
To maintain our independence, we pay for all our samples and where possible we buy from stores, just as you would.
We gently heated the wines according to the instructions on the bottle.
The taste test was blind, so our testers didn’t know which brand they were trying. They tasted the wines in a different order, which was completely rotated to avoid any bias. Each tester had their own tasting booth, so they couldn’t discuss what they tasted or be influenced by others.
The tasters rated the taste, aroma, mouthfeel and appearance of each mulled wine and told us what they liked and didn’t like.
The total score was based on:
- 50% taste
- 25% aroma
- 15% mouthfeel
- 10% appearance
These weightings are based on what people consider to be the most important characteristics when tasting mulled wine.
Price and availability checked: November 3, 2024
Please drink responsibly – see Drink conscious for advice