Cooking Wine Suggestions Wanted

[Panhead John]

When I’m cooking something which calls for wine to be added for additional flavor, I’ve always used the Holland House cooking wine sold at the grocery stores. I know, not the best choice at all. I’m a complete dufus when it comes to wine, I know absolutely nothing about them. I’ve tried to like a few wines over the years….but I’m just not a wine guy. The last wine I liked was Boone’s Farm back in the 70’s. 🤭

I was hoping to get a few suggestions from the group on a decent overall red wine that would work well for most beef dishes calling for a little red wine….something commonly found in the liquor stores or grocery store. Maybe around $10.-$15. per bottle and can be stored in the fridge for a few months. I’ll be doing a beef stew soon which calls for some wine. Also, maybe a few white wine suggestions for doing pork or chicken dishes. Thanks



Anything beats this……

[CHNeal]

You do know you cant make that stew for the Souper Bowl right?

[Sid P]

Hah! He sure teed that up for you.

[Panhead John]

Of course I know Clay….I ain’t from Nebraska ya know. 😉

[Finster]

Not a wine guy either.
One rule of thumb I've heard from "experts" is that if you wouldnt drink it, don't cook with it....only loosely applies to me as a non wine drinker.
I think there are plenty of wines in the $8-$12 price range (probably higher in today's market) that work fine as cooking wines.
here's 2 that I currently have on hand for those purposes..
The white is Costco brand, the red comes from California.
I do prefer the screw tops since i never use a whole bottle at one time.
If I can, I will try to find local wines, but we dont have many wineries near us, and their products can fluctuate widely in price and availability

[Uncle Bob]

A lot of so called "cooking wines" will have added salt in them, so that might be a negative. Just use any drinkable wine (hint, MD80 is not one of them). For beef dishes I prefer a decent cabernet, for white meats and fish a good sherry (sweet) or vermouth (dry) as desired. Coors light would be suitable for removing burnt deposits from iron or steel.............would probably eat aluminum.

[ofelles]

Perfect timing on this. I'm just about out of the last of my Carlo Rossi Red Mountain in the glass gallon jug. Following!

[CHNeal]

I used to buy the Rossi Chanti gallon jug to cook with years ago. I always ended up half popped by the time my meal was finished!

[Uncle Bob]

Back in the mid 60s that stuff was about $1.25 gallon.................and not overpriced at that............

[ecowper]

I like wine, so I tend to cook with the same stuff I drink. BUT if you don't like wine and are using it just to cook, here's a rule of thumb for reasonable good wine that won't break the bank.

1. Don't spend more than $15
2. Buy a foreign wine, especially Italy: Chianti, Argentina: Malbec, or Chile: Any red wine. Also, any $10-15 French red, especially Bordeaux.
3. Take a taste when you open it. If it tastes bad to you (not the I'm not a wine drinker taste), then don't cook with it.

[JCBBQ]

Yeah you’re at a distinct disadvantage here bc normally I’d recommend anything you’d drink. So for a red I’d say get a $10 bottle of Malbec. Or a Chilean. Argentina and Chile have good cheap reds. For a white I’d look for for a cheap Sauvignon Blanc. There’s a cheap Aussie wine w a kangaroo on the label that’ll work. That might be a Chardonnay but that’ll be good. Also in the $10 range.

[smokin fool]

The Aussie wine your referring to may be Yellow Tail.
There is nothing at all wrong with this wine, both affordable and tasty.

[JCBBQ]

Yeah that’s it. I couldn’t remember the name.

[Richard Chrz]

I’m like ecowper we cook with what we also drink, although my wife will occasionally have a new wine that she does not like, and that goes into my cooking wine line up. But generally speaking I like my wine that I cook with to be similar to what I am drinking so I don’t have sharp differences in flavors.

[Oak Smoke]

I use Yellow Tail Shiraz when cooking beef. It’s a dark red Australian Cabernet if I remember right. It’s not too sweet and has a flavor I enjoy. I think you can get it most anywhere wine is sold. I know it’s not expensive because I don’t buy expensive wines.

[shify]

Plenty of perfectly acceptable $8-10 wines for cooking. Generally just want to stay away from very oaky or tannic wines (big California chardonnays, Zinfandel or cabs). In that price range you’ll generally not have to worry about that. Sauvignon Blanc or Pinot grirgio for white or a Sangiovese or chianti should be easy to find in that price range and are good for cooking

If you are worried about using a whole bottle up there are two options:
1) little airplane bottles they sell in liquor stores for a buck or two each. Can just keep a stock in your pantry and not worried about it going bad.
2) freeze leftover wine and use the wine cubes to cook. Just like you’d do with stock.

[acorgihouse]

I cook with wine a good bit, red ones for beefy things and white ones for risotto and such. I agree with Uncle Bob, the "cooking wines" tend to have added salt, and I don't even use salted butter as I like to salt to my own taste. I might get flogged for this, but I don't keep a lot of wine around either, so I keep a box of white, and a box of red, just for cooking. I get whatever is on sale, but get the non-sweet ones like cabernet for red, and sauvignon blanc for white, and in the box because they stay somewhat sealed for a month or more, even after opening. Works for me.

[fzxdoc]

Do you refrigerate those boxes once they're opened?

Kathryn

[acorgihouse]

No Kathryn, I don't. I usually get the big 3 L box of Bota or Pacific Peak, my market has them for maybe $14 or so. I tried some of the cheaper ones, tasted them, and didn't really like. They have an internal plastic bag, with a little pushbutton dispenser, and the boxes say the wine is "fresh" for about six weeks. I waffle, as the plastic bag thingie isn't recyclable, while glass wine bottles would be, but I go with the boxed unless I know I'm going to need a fair amount soon.

[smokin fool]

I'm with ecowper and Richard Chrz on this subject.
One of my cardinal rules is, if I'm cooking with a wine it is also the wine I am serving with the meal.
I tend not to leave Ontario for my wines only buying VQA wines.
I do buy Cali/US wines once and a while but I find they are just too expensive up here.
Other than some Portuguese and Spanish wines I don't buy European wines at all.

[WillTravelForFood]

We like what other people have said already, but here's our input to pile on:

Don't cook with a wine that you wouldn't drink -- even if you're not a wine drinker yourself, think about along the lines of "better ingredients, better pizza". But you don't want to cook with an expensive wine either, that's just a sad waste of good wine.

We tend to keep a handful of the one-glass-size Sutter Home or Black Box wines (usually come 4-to-a-pack) specifically for cooking. They're about the right size without having to open a whole 750ml bottle. Worst case, you use two rather than just one. Price-wise, it's "about" $10/bottle.

We wouldn't suggest anything below $7/bottle, just because. Since you said you don't drink wine yourself, working with a price point rather than brand names can help generally classify "good" from "bad" wine.

You could also try some of the $10 Trader Joe-brand wines (***not the Charles Shaw***) from the Reserve lineage. We used a $10 TJ Pinot the other day in a beef stew and it was perfectly fine.

Would you buy 10 ribeyes from the street vendor for $20? You certainly CAN, but you may not enjoy the flavor/texture as much. Same goes for wine.

[WillTravelForFood]

Uncle Bob - not for cooking. There are folks who like it, but as mentioned in the TJ Wine thread earlier this week, for just a dollar or two more from the Shaw price point there are better wines available

[Finster]

Never knew 4 packs of wine was a thing.
I may have to look for those next time I need wine

[WillTravelForFood]

Finster - small bottles of wine are great for cooking. Same as the small containers of chicken stock (so you don't open the 1 Gallon container) or a tube of squeeze tomato paste vs the 4oz can.

[Attjack]

Shaoxing Wine and sweet or dry vermouth can be good options.

[Attjack]

ecowper Exactly, but you should keep it in the fridge. Personally, I also use a product that is a mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon to displace the oxygen so that the wine stays fresh indefinitely. You could also use a wine pump to get the oxygen off the wine.

[ecowper]

Attjack my vermouth rarely lasts long enough to have oxidization problems ;-)

[Attjack]

ecowper I don't go through mine that fast and I have many bottles so I take precautions to preserve freshness. Vermouth is fortified but will go bad especially if it's unrefrigerated. Even if you use yours within a month, I would suggest storing it in the fridge.

[MBMorgan]

Stay away from dry, heavy reds like Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel. Their tannins translate into bitterness when you cook with them.

For a red, I much prefer an inexpensive neutral wine like Pinot Noir. If I can’t find that, I’ll go with Merlot.

For a white, I’ll go with either a Pinot Grigio (not a Chardonnay fan) for savory or a Liebfraumilch for sweet.

As someone mentioned already, dry vermouth works well, too. I generally have some on hand because it keeps for a LONG time in the fridge.