What quality of wine do you cook with?

[vyapti]

My wife bought a bottle of wine that she found on sale. It was an Australian Chardonnay. It kind of had a flavor that stuck with you long after you drink it . . . kind of like Nyquil. It reminded me of the Monty Python Skit - Australian Table Wines:

Another good fighting wine is Melbourne Old-and-Yellow, which is particularly heavy and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat.

Anyway, As I was finishing off the bottle tonight, a thought raced through my mind. This wine is fine for drinking (at least for me), but I'd never cook with it.

This is true. I've spent a decent amount of time looking for the right wines for my my pantry, but as far as consumption, I'd be just as happy drinking from a "box" of burgundy.

Does anyone else feel this way?

 

[buckytom]

i'm sorry, you've totally lost me.

are you saying you cook with better wine than you would drink? or vice versa. i'm lost.

 

[vyapti]

I'll drink just about anything, but I'm far more particular about what I put into something I'm cooking. Long ago, I cooked and drank a $5 half gallon of burgundy. As my income increased, I found myself searching out better wines to cook with, instead of better wines to drink.

 

[Ishbel]

My maxim is that I would never cook with a wine which I would not like to drink...

 

[TATTRAT]

I cook with whatever I am drinking...

 

[cjs]

My drinking wine and my cooking wine has to be of the same quality...why else is there life????

 

[thumpershere2]

Hardly ever cook with wine. Never remember to buy any to cook with. In the past I have used wine on venison roast and it was ok.

 

[GB]

I have never bought a bottle specifically to cook with. I buy wine to drink and that is the same wine that goes in my food when I am cooking.

 

[ChefJune]

The rule of thumb is never to cook with a wine you wouldn't drink. BUT, there are many wine I drink that I wouldn't cook with, because they are WAY too expensive to deglaze a pan with! In that case, I use a similar style but less expensive wine. A classic example.. Boeuf bourguignon... I rarely use wine from Burgundy, but often a Côtes du Rhône... (lower price, good quality) wnen pouring a whole bottle into a stew.

 

[Andy M.]

Cook with real wines, not cooking wines. Cooking wines are awful.

That being said, I often steal some of my SO's chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc to add to a recipe. For reds, I use whatever I'm drinking.

I also keep bottles of dry vermouth and dry sherry.

If I'm drinking a very good and expensive wine, I don't feel obligated to cook with it. Using a less expensive version of the wine is fine.

 

[ronjohn55]

I'm with the I cook with what I drink crowd.

Of course, with over 200 bottles of wine in the house at any given time, buying wine just for cooking with seems a little
unnecessary...

John

 

[jennyema]

The rule of thumb is never to cook with a wine you wouldn't drink. BUT, there are many wine I drink that I wouldn't cook with, because they are WAY too expensive to deglaze a pan with! In that case, I use a similar style but less expensive wine. A classic example.. Boeuf bourguignon... I rarely use wine from Burgundy, but often a Côtes du Rhône... (lower price, good quality) wnen pouring a whole bottle into a stew.

I totally agree. I would never cook with a really nice wine. The flavor, the texture, the nuances that make a fine wine fine are all lost in the cooking process.

Fine wine is something to be savored, IMO.

I cook with and drink moderately priced wines. But I also enjoy nicer more expensive wines when I can.

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

i'm sorry, you've totally lost me.

are you saying you cook with better wine than you would drink? or vice versa. i'm lost.

My thoughts are exactly the same buckytom. I'm wondering why you would drink something you wouldn't cook with. I buy good wine for drinking so I cook with it too. I wouldn't spend $25,00 per bottle for a wine then dump it in spaghetti sauce but I would still go with a decent quality wine for cooking. NEVER, BUT NEVER, buy what is known as "cooking wine." This stuff is garbage and if you ever tasted it out of the bottle you would wonder why anyone would put this stuff in food. AAAAACCCCKKKK!!!

 

[Ishbel]

I've never heard of 'cooking wine'... When I was a girl, some friends' mothers had cooking sherry in the cupboard - believe me, that was VILE stuff... (we know, we tried it!)

 

[exactly150]

I don't buy wine less than $20 a bottle, so that's what I cook with. A good burgundy for my sunday sauce, a combination of burgundy and port for nice simmering pot of french onion soup.

 

[Michael in FtW]

"Cooking Wines" are inferior quality wines that are loaded with salt, and often other additives, to make them too vile and salty to drink. They served the purpose of making wine used for cooking only available in "dry" cities/counties where the sale of any alcoholic beverages was illegal.

I just use a good quality wine for cooking since, as someone has already pointed out, those subtle notes and flavors in premium wines will be lost in cooking. I find that I prefer to cook with a wine with a little more body than the wines I enjoy drinking.

As for the "wine in a box" ... it's generally of good enough quality for both cooking and drinking (depending on the wine) and has an advantage over a bottle of wine. Once a bottle of wine is uncorked it begins to oxidize and will not last very long (unless you use those vacuum sealer stoppers) - while the wine in the box is in a sealed pouch that does not allow air to enter, and thus will be more stable for longer periods of time. This is an advantage for those who do not cook with or drink a lot of wine.

 

[VegasDramaQueen]

I don't buy wine less than $20 a bottle, so that's what I cook with. A good burgundy for my sunday sauce, a combination of burgundy and port for nice simmering pot of french onion soup.

I used to use Port in my French Onion soup also til I discovered that Brandy gives the soup a wonderful flavor - a little better than Port I think. Give it a try some day and see if you agree.

 

[mudbug]

Box wine is fine for cooking. And you can drink it too if you're like me and enjoy your evening glass(es).

For company, I'll spring for a better vintage - for in the glass, not in the food.

 

[pdswife]

We don't drink wine so...
so we just buy the boxed stuff to cook with.
It lasts forever/

 

[Half Baked]

a Côtes du Rhône

lol June, remember the bottle of wine I bought "Goats do Roam"? I tell you it was great. Purchased it from the local International Market!

I would NEVER put any Cooking wine in a dish.