🥤 DRINK
Izvar (Moldovan Hot Wine with Honey and Black Pepper)
Red wine gently warmed with cinnamon, black peppercorns, apple and lemon, sweetened with honey and served hot before it ever boils.
Moldovan · easy · serves 4
prep 10 min · cook 10 min
~274 cal · 0g protein · 26g carbs · 0g fat · 1g fiber · 18g sugars · 0g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Izvar is Moldova's hot wine, and in a country where so many families make their own wine it is a homemade winter remedy as much as a treat. The Moldovan ethnographic portal describes it simply as hot wine with honey and black pepper, taken against colds, and Moldovan cooks still add peppercorns for exactly that reason.
It is plainer than the mulled wines of western and northern Europe. Traditionally it was made only in winter, heated on the hot plate of the stove, from the family's own red wine, often from grape varieties such as Căpșunel or Moldova, with honey instead of sugar, black pepper, a few slices of green apple and sometimes a stick of cinnamon, quince or orange peel. Where a spiced vin fiert may be simmered with a long list of spices, izvar keeps to a few and is never allowed to boil.
It is served hot, traditionally in clay cups that hold the heat, and today it is poured at Christmas markets, wineries and wine shops across Moldova through the festive season.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 1 l dry red wine (Fetească Neagră, Rară Neagră or homemade red)
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1/2 green apple, thinly sliced
- 2 lemon slices
- 3 tbsp honey, more to taste
Instructions
- 1Pour the wine into a heavy-bottomed pot and add the cinnamon, peppercorns, apple and lemon slices.
- 2Warm it slowly over a low heat, stirring now and then, until the first steam rises.
- 3Stir in the honey until it has dissolved, then taste and add more if you like it sweeter.
- 4Keep heating gently until a little foam forms at the edge of the pot, about 70C, then take it off the heat at once.✎ Chef’s noteNever let izvar boil. The alcohol and the fruitiness of the wine go, and the honey turns flat.
- 5Ladle into warmed clay cups or mugs, with a slice of apple in each, and serve hot.
Moldovan winter home tradition.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Chișinău. Chisinau is a wine-country capital raised on mamaliga, cornmeal served with sheep cheese and sour cream. Moldovan cooking centres on placinta pastries, stuffed cabbage rolls, grilled meats, and the vineyards that surround the city.
🗺️
Moldova. Wine is not a sideline here but a documented one. The cellars at Milestii Mici, tunnels cut into limestone, hold what is recorded as the largest wine collection in the world, and household winemaking remains ordinary rather than remarkable. Placinta, the coiled or folded pastry filled with cheese, cabbage, potato or apple, is what gets eaten alongside.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Moldova
Mămăligă cu BrânzăThick cornmeal polenta layered with salty sheep's cheese and sour cream, the soul of Moldovan tables.
Plăcintă cu BrânzăPan-fried or baked flatbread pockets stuffed with salty cheese, a Moldovan morning favorite.
ZeamăA tangy chicken noodle soup soured with fermented bran brine and fragrant with lovage, Moldova's restorative bowl.
Browse all Moldova recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan, Steamer.
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Moldova meal
Mămăligă cu BrânzăDinner
CornulețeDessert
Similar dishes from around the world
Glögg (Swedish Mulled Wine)Sweden
Heitt Súkkulaði (Icelandic Hot Chocolate)Iceland
Karstais Balzams (Hot Black Balsam with Blackcurrant)Latvia
Krupnikas (Lithuanian Honey Spice Liqueur)Lithuania
Api MoradoBolivia
Colada MoradaEcuador
Drinks
Frequently asked questions
What is Izvar (Moldovan Hot Wine with Honey and Black Pepper)?
Red wine gently warmed with cinnamon, black peppercorns, apple and lemon, sweetened with honey and served hot before it ever boils.
Where does Izvar (Moldovan Hot Wine with Honey and Black Pepper) come from?
Izvar (Moldovan Hot Wine with Honey and Black Pepper) is a Moldovan dish from Chișinău, Moldova.
Can Izvar (Moldovan Hot Wine with Honey and Black Pepper) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Izvar (Moldovan Hot Wine with Honey and Black Pepper) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Izvar (Moldovan Hot Wine with Honey and Black Pepper) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Izvar (Moldovan Hot Wine with Honey and Black Pepper) take to make?
About 20 minutes total (10 minutes prep, 10 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.