text: Traditionally most strongly associated with Christmas, with its distinctive smell evocative of the season, mulled wine continues to grow in popularity and is gaining momentum more broadly as a great drink for winter. Pre-made mulled wine like Three Mills Mulled is incredibly popular, being shopped by 1 in 8 wine buying households – that’s a whopping 2 million households buying into the category, which is made even more impressive given that three-quarters of mulled sales are in December alone.
  Not only a key volume driver for the category, pre-made mulled wine is also essential for recruiting younger consumers. This segment is a third more likely to buy into the category than older wine drinkers, citing convenience as a key driver for purchase. This is the same consumer group that is also looking for new and exciting flavours and formats, so innovation is key to keeping them engaged.
  To celebrate National Mulled Wine Day, we spoke to Broadland Drinks’ NPD & Innovation Technician Peter Smith to find out the secret to making a good mulled wine.
  Hi Peter, explain to us your role at Broadland Drinks?
  I’m an Innovation Technician, which means it’s my job to stay ahead of the latest flavour trends, source the highest quality ingredients and come up with interesting recipes so we can provide the best tasting drinks to our consumers.
  So tell us, what makes a good mulled wine?
  It’s all about the balance. You need to start with a full-bodied red wine base, a Merlot for example would be great. Then it’s about adding in the spices – traditionally cinnamon, cloves, star anise and nutmeg. It takes a lot of work and a few secret ingredients to get the balance right, but it’s worth it when we receive such great feedback on our flavours.
  Do you have any tips on the perfect serve?
  This is where consumers can have some fun. Mulled Wine is such a versatile drink to serve so you can really create an occasion with it. I’d suggest heating it gently, then making it look handcrafted by serving in a latte glass or your favourite matching mugs, then garnishing with slices of clementine, twists of lemon peel or whole cinnamon sticks. When drunk by the fire, I think it always feels more special.
  Any sneak peeks on what’s new from Three Mills this year?
  Last year we launched our Three Mills Gingerbread Flavour Mulled Wine which performed incredibly well. Our customers and consumers loved the trendy winter flavour and it became a talking point at parties as it’s something a little bit different to the norm. Following the success of Gingerbread, we’ve added a new and exciting flavour into the range for 2022. The whole range has also had a design refresh and the team may also be working on format innovation too… there’s lots of exciting new news to come so it’s a great project to be part of.
  find out what’s new for Three Mills Mulled this year and discover what Broadland Drinks can do for your Christmas sales, contact: