Can You Drink Mulled Wine While Pregnant? What Simmering Actually Removes (2026 Guide)

Short answer: no. Mulled wine is regular wine, warmed, and warming it removes much less alcohol than most people assume. A mug of glühwein from a Christmas market carries a meaningful fraction of a glass of wine, and the official guidance from ACOG, the CDC and the NHS is the same: there is no amount of alcohol known to be safe during pregnancy.

The good news is that the rest of the mulled wine experience, the warm mug, the cinnamon and cloves, the standing-outside-in-a-coat part, is completely replaceable. This guide covers the actual numbers on simmering, the variants (glühwein, glögg, wassail), and the holiday drinks that work instead.

Medically reviewed by: [placeholder]. Last updated: October 26, 2026.

The simmering myth, with numbers

The reason this question exists is a piece of kitchen folklore: "the alcohol cooks off." It mostly does not, and the data on this is old and solid. A study of alcohol retention in cooking published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the source of the retention figures USDA has used since, measured how much alcohol survives different cooking methods:

Now map that onto how mulled wine is actually made. Recipes warn you never to boil it, because boiling ruins the flavor, and the typical recipe steeps the wine with spices over low heat for 15 to 30 minutes. That is the 35 to 40 percent row. Start with a bottle of 12% wine and a generous mug of the result is in the neighborhood of half a glass of regular wine. Some recipes also add a shot of brandy or rum at the end, after the heat, which raises it further.

So mulled wine is not a technicality or a gray zone. It is an alcoholic drink that happens to be warm.

Why wine in a sauce is a different question

If you have read that small amounts of wine cooked into food are generally considered fine, that is not a contradiction. A dish made with wine spreads a cup of it across four to six portions and usually cooks it much longer and hotter, so the alcohol in your single serving is tiny. Mulled wine inverts every part of that: the wine is the whole drink, the heat is gentle, and the portion is a full mug. Same ingredient, completely different dose. If you prefer to avoid even cooked wine in food, that is a reasonable choice too. Mention it when someone else is cooking.

Glühwein, glögg and wassail

• Glühwein is the German Christmas market version: red wine, cinnamon, cloves, citrus, sugar. Everything above applies directly.
• Glögg, the Scandinavian version, is usually stronger, because many recipes fortify the wine with vodka, aquavit or brandy. Treat it as further from safe, not closer.
• Wassail varies: some recipes are mulled cider with no alcohol at all, others are ale or wine based. The name tells you nothing, so ask what is in the pot.
• Hot toddies are hot whiskey. Same rule: alcohol is alcohol, warm or not.

The spices in all of these are not the issue. Cinnamon, cloves, star anise and citrus in normal drink amounts are fine during pregnancy. It is only the base that matters.

What to drink instead

This is the part that actually solves the Christmas party problem. Ranked by how close they get to the real thing:

Two of those need a label check. "Non-alcoholic" and "dealcoholized" wines in the US can legally contain up to 0.5% alcohol, while "alcohol-free" and "0.0%" mean none. We break down exactly what those labels mean, in the US and the UK, in our non-alcoholic beer and NA drinks guide. And eggnog has a raw-egg question on top of the rum question, which our eggnog guide sorts out.

For the rest of the winter menu: our apple cider guide covers the cider-mill question (and why "hard cider" is the one word that changes the answer), the hot chocolate guide covers caffeine by cup, and the pumpkin spice latte guide rounds out the season.

If someone hands you a drink and you are not sure what is in it, the Oli app can scan packaged drinks and check every ingredient against pregnancy guidance, and the free pregnancy food checker answers one-off "is this fine" questions in a few seconds.

FAQ

I drank mulled wine before I knew I was pregnant. Should I worry? Do not panic. A drink or two before a positive test is one of the most common pregnancy stories there is, and the guidance to stop applies from the moment you know. Stop now, and mention it to your doctor at your next visit so it is on the record and off your mind.

Does heating mulled wine remove the alcohol? Only partially. A typical 15 to 30 minute low simmer leaves roughly 35 to 40 percent of the alcohol in the pot, and mulled wine is never boiled hard, because that ruins it. A mug still carries a real dose of alcohol.

Is glühwein the same as mulled wine? Yes, glühwein is the German name for the same drink, so the same answer applies. Glögg, the Scandinavian cousin, is often spiked with extra spirits, which makes it stronger than regular mulled wine, not weaker.

Is non-alcoholic mulled wine safe during pregnancy? Look for "alcohol-free" or "0.0%" on the label, which means no alcohol. Bottles labeled "non-alcoholic" or "dealcoholized" can contain up to 0.5%, a trace amount some people are comfortable with and some are not. Ask your doctor where they land, and check the label either way.

Can I have just one small glass at a party? The honest answer is that no amount of alcohol has been shown to be safe in pregnancy, which is why ACOG, the CDC and the NHS all advise none at all. A warm mug of mulled grape juice or spiced cider gets you the ritual without the question.

What about mulled cider? Regular apple cider mulled with spices is a great choice. Hard cider, mulled or not, is alcohol and follows the same rule as wine. The word "hard" on the label is the whole difference.

Are the mulling spices safe during pregnancy? Yes. Cinnamon, cloves, star anise, nutmeg and citrus peel in normal drink quantities are all fine. The base liquid is the only question in the mug.

Sources: ACOG: alcohol and pregnancy, CDC: alcohol use during pregnancy, NHS: drinking alcohol while pregnant, Augustin et al., alcohol retention in food preparation, J Am Diet Assoc.

This article is for informational purposes and is not medical advice. Always confirm with your healthcare provider.