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Cooking with Wine

Many gourmet recipes utilize wine as a flavor enhancer. There is good reason for this. Wine heightens the character of food not with its alcohol content but with its flavor. The alcohol is usually evaporated during the cooking process leaving behind complex flavors highlighting the unique character of the wine. Therefore any wine being used for cooking must be a good one. A chef once told me that if you wouldn’t drink the wine, then you shouldn’t subject your food to it! If the wine is excessively fruity, sour, or unsavory in any way, these tastes will only be emphasized during the cooking process. Above all the wine to avoid is so-called cooking wine located in the supermarket near the vinegar. You would almost be better off just using the vinegar. "Cooking wine" is, first, a poor quality wine packaged so it can be priced higher than it should, and second, salt is added to this wine to either prevent you from drinking it straight or to "help" with the seasoning. This truly is something to avoid all together. Ultimately it comes down to - if you do not have good wine, opt not to use it!

White Wine: White wine used in cooking should be strong and dry, never sour or fruity (unless fruity or sweet is the result you want – as in this month’s Pork Medallions with Pears & Riesling.) Which white wine to use really depends on what flavor you want to impart on your dish. Sauvignon Blanc with its herbaceous quality will highlight herbs, whereas a Chardonnay with its buttery characteristic is a perfect compliment for something like buerre blanc.

Baked Salmon with Wine & Parsley

Red Wine: I generally use a good Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot or a Bordeaux when using red wine in a recipe. I find it gives a nice full-bodied flavor to the dishes I prepare but you can also experiment here as well. Zinfandels typically have a berry or cherry character which work nicely with fruit sauces for pork or duck for instance.

For red and white wine, make sure that you cook off the alcohol before completing your sauce or dish. If this evaporation does not take place, often the end result tastes less than desirable.

Fortified Wines, Spirits and Liqueurs: These should be used primarily for final finishes and therefore should be the finest quality. Usually only small quantities are call for in most recipes so your supply of these expensive spirits should last quite awhile.

Madeira & Port: These wines are typically used for a finishing flavor. These wines should be the genuine article of a medium-dry type, but you can usually find moderately priced wines in this category.