Slow-Cooker Winter Spiced Red Wine

One of my most favorite holiday-time traditions is one that my husband, Rich, and I have created without even realizing it.  Every year at Christmas time we go wine tasting out west of us in Utica, IL and cap the night off with a gorgeous dinner at a gorgeous place, the Starved Rock Lodge.  This is our third year running with it now, and it really is something that we both enjoy- I because my palate has changed since having children and I am a professional wine taster now and he because it makes me happy.  Not to brag, but I do know my wine.  Over the years of road tripping together to one family destination or another, we have started stopping at wineries along the way to break up the car time.  And I love it.  And my husband loves it because I love it, well let's just say that I am much sweeter with each sip.  But, anyways, to make this long drawn out story a little quicker, I will get back on track here.  We always start off our Christmas Wine Run as I call it, with the stop at the August Hill Wine Bar right in the down town district of Utica- all 1, maybe, 2 blocks of it.  And this is where I learned of this.  They had a heated coffee pot of this spiced red wine going on the bar top.  And once the bartender stated that this was a free additional tasting that did not count in for the 6 you purchase, I was all in.  Out of the four of us that night, I was the first to sample it.  And I was blown away by how much I enjoyed it.  Since this was the first wine bar on our list, I was confident in my liking of it and was eager to create my own version by using a regular store-bought cider spice mixture rather than purchasing their own mixture for $8.00.  And boy oh boy am I ever hooked.  It is like Christmas in a cup to me.  And if your palate is as mine, it will be to you too.

1 bottle of your favorite red wine (I used Vignoles by August Hill Winery-it's a semi-sweet red)
1/2 of a wine bottle of water
1- 5.65oz. carton of Aspen Mulling Cider Spice (or any other brand cider spice mixture to use for spiced apple cider)

-Stir all ingredients together in your slow-cooker.  Set it to go low and slow.  Serve warm, once it has been heated through.  Serves as many as you allow ;)