How to Cook with Wine
Cooking with wine is a bit of a misunderstood area. It’s not quite as simple as many people believe it to be. With such a wide range of wines available to cook with and a variety of ways in which to use them, it can all get quite complicated in the kitchen! Here, we cut through the confusion, with all you need to know about adding a drop of the good stuff to your dinner.
Why do we use wine in cooking?
Wine is used in a similar fashion to seasoning. You’re not pouring it in to change the taste of the entire dish, but more to enhance and complement the flavours already there. A common reason for using wine is to add acidity, which in turn will supply balance to and help emphasise the other flavours of the dish.
By adding a small quantity of wine, you can integrate its taste and characteristics into the food. The heat helps to accentuate the desirable (or undesirable) qualities and flavours of the wine – so it’s important that you pick a good bottle!
Understanding which wines complement which foods is a pretty good starting point when cooking with wine. Deciding whether to opt for red or white is your first port of call.
Red wine for cooking
Red wine is more suitable for cooking with darker meats, but that’s still quite a general piece of guidance. If grilling up a steak for example, you want to make sure you’re using the most suitable red for that particular cut. A couple of key house rules to remember for red meat pairing are: the leaner the meat, the lighter the red. And fattier meats are better with a bold, tannic red.
For beef, we generally say leaner cuts and fillets benefit from a light and bright red such as Pinot Noir, especially if being served closer to rare. For fattier cuts of beef such as a ribeye, using a full-bodied wine Cabernet Sauvignon does something magical to the flavours. Multi-ingredient beef dishes such as a beef stew or a beef bourguignon are best cooked with a medium red, such as Zinfandel or Côtes du Rhône.
Leaner red meats like lamb and venison require a lighter red wine. Lamb needs a wine with smoother tannins, so Shiraz or Malbec are both good medium-bodied options to use here. Pinot Noir is the go-to for complementing the rich and gamey flavour of venison, although medium-bodied reds such as Côtes du Rhône and Chianti are good alternatives when roasting.
You can also add a splash of red wine when cooking some darker white meats, including duck, goose, pigeon and pheasant. ‘The darker the meat, the darker the red’ is always a good principal to follow, and it’s also worth considering the flavours and aromas of the wine too. Anything with a strong hint of plum would be a great additional touch for duck dishes!
When it comes to delicious desserts, red wine is more appropriate for berry and chocolate recipes.
White wine for cooking
White wines can be fantastic in a whole host of dishes, which is why you’ll often find them in chicken, fish and seafood recipes, as well as vegetarian. The range of styles you should cook with, however, is significantly smaller than with reds. You’re better off sticking to light, dry white wines for poaching or steaming, something slightly richer for roasting, and only using sweet wines in sweet dishes.
Lean, white fish is a classic example of a food that’s best complemented by white wine. Stick to dry, crisp whites like Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc for best results. Seafood such as lobster and shellfish are considered more full-bodied, so are better partnered with creamier, full-bodied whites like Chardonnay.
When it comes to chicken and turkey, your go-to drop may vary depending on preference. A general rule of thumb is the lighter the meal, the lighter the wine. Sauvignon Blanc is a reasonably safe option, but if you’re roasting you might want something a bit richer like Chardonnay.
For vegetable dishes, opt for lighter white wines. Coordinating the fresh, herby nature of green veg with a splash of fruity and floral white wine works well. Think Sauvignon Blanc or Verdejo for this, as they are easy to cook with and won’t overpower the dish. Richer whites such as Chardonnay tend to pair better with mushrooms and other fungi foods.
For desserts, whites tend to complement citrus recipes and infuse flavours nicely into light, creamy tarts and puddings. Reach for a bottle of sweet Riesling or Gewürztraminer if you’re poaching peaches or pears. Such wines are also perfect for apple and pear based pies or tarts, as well as anything with a vanilla focus.
Cooking methods using wine
Wine reduction sauce
This is a staple way of using wine that involves mixing it with other ingredients and reducing over heat. The flavour of the wine is concentrated and the alcohol evaporates, leaving you with a sauce beautifully infused with the wine’s key tasting notes.
Deglazing with wine
Pouring wine onto a used cooking pan and then reheating it can help you capture all of the flavours into a pan sauce. This technique, known as deglazing, is commonly used with roasted or sautéed meat, collecting all the flavoursome juices and brown bits from the pan to save them going to waste!
Baking with wine
Wine is often thrown into the mixture when baking as well. Port wine is used in baked desserts (usually containing fruits), white wine is a popular ingredient in baked chicken dishes, while Prosecco and Champagne are sometimes used as a luxury ingredient in cakes.
Wine marinade
Wine is a common ingredient used in marinades, which are basically a mixture of herbs, spices, liquids and other ingredients. Meats (or sometimes vegetables) are left coated or soaking in the marinade for an extended period of time prior to cooking, so that they’re packed full of flavours and juices by the time they hit the grill.
What happens to wine when it’s cooked?
A common misconception when cooking with wine is that all alcohol content is burned off during the cooking process. This isn’t completely true. Typically, the majority of the alcohol will evaporate, but in order to eliminate all traces you would need to cook something for a good three hours or more.
Exactly how much alcohol content remains after cooking depends on the volume of wine used, how the wine is being cooked and the length of time it’s being cooked for. A red wine reduction sauce that’s been simmering for a couple of hours will leave very little alcohol content. On the other hand, baking with wine for approximately 25 minutes will likely leave around 45% of the alcohol content.
It’s not just alcohol content that is evaporated either. All wines contain a small amount of sulphites, a natural result of the winemaking process. These evaporate along with the alcohol, while the flavours are concentrated. The undesirable stuff comes out, the good stuff is enhanced!
Key rules to remember
Everything from tannins, acidity, sweetness, aromas and flavours of a wine will shape the dish you’re cooking (or baking). Here are a few key basic rules to remember that will help you decide which wine to reach for.
- If the dish is quite acidic, choose a low acidity wine to maintain balance
- A low tannin red wine will result in a smoother sauce
- A bitter wine can work well with salty foods, as the salt softens the wine
- Consider whether you want alcohol in your dish or cake. The longer you simmer wine in a sauce, the more alcohol will be burned off (it would take a good three hours for the alcohol to completely evaporate). Baking with wine burns off very little alcohol
- Avoid ‘Cooking Wine’ and choose a wine you’d happily sip on. If you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it!
So, hopefully we’ve given you a good grasp of how to choose and use a wine that can really heighten your cooking game – and how to enjoy your favourite wines in a completely different way! For an in-depth look at the best wine and food flavour pairings around, check out the Wine and Food section of our Wine Guide.
