UNCORKED : Why cook with wine you wouldn’t drink?
Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Does it really matter what type of wine you use for cooking ?
Of course it does. And a timeworn saying verifies it: Never cook with a wine you would not drink.
So, that bottle left from last week’s dinner party most likely is better poured down the sink than into your next dish. Julia Child said it perfectly: “If you do not have a good wine to use, it is far better to omit it, for a poor wine can spoil a simple dish and utterly debase a noble one.” Wine in cooking is generally used in one of two ways: A white wine to enhance a cream sauce to serve with poultry or pork; a red wine to make a rich, instant reduction sauce and for marinating meat.
There should be little concern that cooking with wine will add alcohol to your food — most of it will evaporate during cooking leaving only the flavor of the wine.
It goes without saying, then, that wines, though labeled “cooking wines,” are not a good choice for cooking. Spend the $ 7 to $ 10 on an inexpensive wine, or splurge and buy a wine you would drink with your dinner. The wine you cook with usually ends up as the best wine to pair with your dish.
Following are a few suggestions for using wines in cooking Red wines: Marinating red meat and to enhance the flavor of red sauces, soups, vegetables and beef stocks. Dry white wines: Use in veal, pork, poultry, seafood, light soups, bouillabaisse and light cream sauces. Sweet wines: Desserts.
THE VALUE 2006 Rex Goliath Central Coast Merlot, California (about $ 8, retail ) The nose and palate have much more to offer than you would expect from a wine in the $ 8 range. At this price, I taste and retaste to confirm that the wine fits the quality level I would recommend, and I was amazed at the wine behind this rooster-bearing label. It has an easy-drinking style but with enough complexity to make one question whether it is a simple, mass-produced wine or possibly a wine hovering in the $ 12 range. This is a perfect cooking wine, of course, and it’s even better when sipped as you labor over the preparation. On the palate, the dark berry fruit is simple yet defined. The fruits confirm on the palate with cherry, plum and a background of spice making this a very impressive wine at this price.
THE SPLURGE 2007 Hess Chardonnay, California (about $ 14, retail ) The chardonnay grape can be incredible at the high end of the price range but many times comes up woefully short at the lower end. Hess is a wine that I would confidently add to my cooking dishes — but sparingly, saving enough to enjoy with dinner. The cool climate of Monterey County seems to be a giveaway that the bottle is going to be a fine example of chardonnay thriving in California. The nose is subtle with pear, pineapple and a slight background of toast. The palate offers ripe pear, peach and simple notes of vanilla. Lorri Hambuchen has a diploma in wine and spirits from London’s Wine and Spirits Education Trust and is a member of London’s Institute of Wines and Spirits. Send questions or comments to her at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P. O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203, or e-mail: uncorked@mac. com
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