Cooking with Wine

When it comes to cooking with wine, many of us don't follow a simple rule of “if you don't want to drink it, you shouldn't cook with it.” Heat will concentrate flavors of the wine as you cook with it, so you want to make sure to start with something you enjoy. The stronger the flavor you start with, the bigger that flavor will be when you're finished.

Since everyone's taste preferneces are different, it is hard to create set of rules for what wine you should use when you're cooking a specific style of food. I usually select a wine that will add to or compliment the other ingrediants of the dish I am creating. I try to highlight the flavors of wine like I would seasonings from my pantry. I also like to cook with the wine I plan to serve with whatever I am cooking.

The first tip I have for you when selecting a wine to use in cooking your dish, I tend to think of wines from the region where the reciepe originates. The idea is what grows together goes together. Foods from the same region will taste better together than mixing a bunch of flavors from disparate cultures.

The second tip for you when it comes to cooling with wine. There are a lot of bottles of "cooking wine" at supermarket, but these are usually made from low-quality wine that is then stabilized for long term storage with with a huge amount of salt. AVOID these as it will cause to now have a wine you don't want to drink infused a giant spoonful of sodium, not exactly the wine you envisioned when considering what wine to add to your dish.