Using wine in cooking is like choosing the right wine to go with your cheese or food. There is a science to this and it goes better than choosing between red or white. Choosing the right wine to add to the recipe will enhance its taste. If you choose the wrong type of wine, you can overpower the dish or the taste of the wine can be completely missed. It is also important to understand that there are types that are made specifically for cooking with wine rather than drinking.

There are six main types of cooking wine:

  • Dry red and white
  • Dry nutty (oxidized)
  • Sweet nutty (oxidized)
  • Sweet fortified reds (like Port)
  • Sweet white
  • Rice wine

Dry red and white

Dry red wine and dry white wine are ideal for adding to creamers, clams, mussels, beef stews, and wine-based sauces. They’re the normal drinkable wines you’d serve with a meal, and it’s often a good idea to serve the same wine you’re adding to your meal. Dry reds are often used for wine reduction sauces, Sauce Beurre Rouge, and Sauce Bourguignonne. Dried whites are suitable for creamy sauces, soups and as a means of ensuring that your meal pairs with the wine you serve.

Dry nutty wines

Dry, nutty wines are ideal for making a delicious mushroom sauce to serve with pork or chicken, as well as shrimp and rich fish like halibut. It’s important to note that there are a number of dry pecan wines available, and each one will add a different quality to your meal, so be sure to do a little more research on your recipe before cooking with wine.

Sweet nutty wines

They’re perfect for making syrups to serve over desserts with caramel, dried fruit, and even vanilla ice cream. This type of wine is usually aged for at least 10 years to ensure superior flavour. 40-year-old wines are particularly viscous and it doesn’t take much to reduce them to a delicious caramel sauce. Cooking with wine in this way does require some care and patience.

 

Fortified sweet reds

If you’re looking for the best wine to make chocolate cakes, chocolate sauces, a port reduction syrup, or a port sauce to pour over your steak, look no further! These sweeter varieties are great enjoyed next to a roaring fire, but they are also excellent for those who plan on cooking with wine.

 

Sweet white

This wine is ideal for making sweet sauces, poaching pears and for making sweet butter sauces to serve with lobster, shrimp and various types of fish scales. These wines have a mild flavour and high acidity, which means they can be used in both sweet and savoury dishes.

 

Rice wine

Rice wine is used in recipes for marinades, glazes, and to make some types of barbecue sauce. You will find two main types of rice wines on the market: Japanese and Chinese. The Chinese variety of rice wine isn’t actually wine as such and is often used in stir-fry recipes. Japanese rice wine is known as Mirin and is often served as an appetizer. It’s also a great option for cooking with wine to make various glazes and when making an Asian barbecue sauce.

When cooking with wine, the most important rule to remember is to avoid cheap or inferior quality bottles. While these might work fairly well in dishes where they are added in small amounts, thick reductions do require a quality bottle.