What’s the Best Red Wine for Cooking? The best reds: Merlot Côtes du Rhône Cabernet Chianti Pinot Noir. Red wine can also be used in marinades and glazes. So no, you can’t substitute red wine in recipes that call for white—white wines offer brightness, acidity and a light softness, while red wines are used for bold, hearty dishes that can withstand its bitter, intense flavors. While most are available at big local or online retailers, some are more exclusive bottlings available only through their wineries or select wine outlets. The jug wine, meanwhile, made sauces that were overly sweet and simple. Are red wine and white wine interchangeable? Here are a few more rules of thumb to take note of: RELATED: What’s the Best Wine for Thanksgiving? This style’s oak notes can turn harsh and woody when cooked too quickly or with weaker ingredients, so skip pan sauce and tomato sauce. If you’ve never sipped a glass alongside an Italian dinner, you’re missing out big time. Whether you’re looking to save or splurge, these picks will elevate your next steak dinner. The hearty Cabernet Sauvignon gave the sauces an astringent, woody bite that bullied all other flavors out of the way. Chianti is best for tomato sauce, pasta dishes and pan sauces rather than hearty stews. Côtes du Rhône wines, blends hailing from vineyards around the Rhône River, are great substitutes for Cab, too. So, dry red wines with moderate tannins are safest to include in recipes. They’re silky, earthy, acidic, smooth and come light- and medium-bodied. Whether you’re sinking your teeth into an inch-thick ribeye or a sizzling skirt steak, you want a wine that’ll both stand up to and complement the umami-rich character of beef. Cook’s Illustrated tested a ton of red wines for cooking and found that no matter the wine, cooking it over high heat (say for a pan sauce or tomato sauce) will often result in an edgy, sour taste. “I would pick a wine with good volume, and one that’s concentrated enough to take up your entire mouth with flavor,” he says. Men’s Journal has affiliate partnerships so we may receive compensation for some links to products and services. For more information please read our, How to Have the Best Damn Taco-and-Beer Crawl in San Diego, Three Can’t-Go-Wrong Tech Gifts That Everyone on Your List Will Love, Stock Up For The Future With These Black Friday Face Masks Deals, The Coolest Pieces of Gear We Tested This Week, Nearly Everything From the Art of Shaving Line is On Sale At Amazon For Black Friday, Upgrade Your Home With Amazon’s Black Friday Deals. When used in braising, it turns meat fall-off-the-bone tender. Note that more fruit-forward wines will become fruitier as they reduce. This process involves heating the red wine with a few other seasoning ingredients in sauté pan on low heat until it simmers. They age beautifully and are great for hearty dishes. © 2010-2020 Wow Media Products, Inc doing business as PureWow. OK, now you know which varieties to look for next time you’re at the liquor store or wine shop. They’re usually full and rich like Pinot Noir, but since they’re made from a blend of grapes instead of just one, they may help balance the flavor of your dish better. In order to view the gallery, please allow Manage Cookies. Although both red wine and white wine tenderize and moisten, their flavor profiles generally fit different foods. … For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube! PureWow may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Pinot Noir aged in oak barrels, like Cabernet, isn’t best for quick sauces, but rather low-and-slow recipes. This wine is aged in oak barrels, and its resulting oak flavors did not soften as they cooked but turned bitter and harsh. Sign up for PureWow to get more ideas like these (It’s free!). Here’s an easy red wine style guide to stick to while you’re shopping: Come winter, consider this style your new dinner date. Keep an eye out for red Burgundy when you’re at the liquor store too—some winemakers use that name for Pinot Noir after the region where the grapes are grown (they may be a little pricier). Sign up for PureWow to get more daily discoveries sent straight to your inbox. And as an Argentinian, he knows his beef. Read on to find out why they work and get our bottle (and recipe) recommendations. If you prefer European-style wines, red Bordeaux—which is made of a blend of Cabernet and Merlot, among other grapes—are a good bet. While red wine can break down big, fatty cuts of meat, it can also keep lighter proteins like fish super moist and impart great flavor. Cabs are complex, like a more intense Merlot. That’s why white wine is popular in seafood and chicken recipes, while red wine is key in roasts and meaty stews. Best dry red wine for cooking beef stew or a wine-based sauce: Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Cabernet Sauvignon. These 4 Varieties Are Basically Foolproof, 25 Easy, No-Bake Dessert Recipes for Kids, Pan-Seared Salmon with Red Wine-Balsamic Sauce, Antoni Porowski’s Moroccan-Style Pasta Bolognese, Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce. Sangiovese wines, named for the main grape used in Chianti, have a signature tart acidity and spiciness that make them an uncanny stand-in for Chianti. Perfect Pairings: 5 Best Wines to Drink With Steak, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Why Miller High Life is the Classiest Compromise at the Dive Bar, What to Do With Your Thanksgiving Leftovers, The Unique Health Benefits of Every Type of Milk, Get $90 Off Of Home Chef For Your Thanksgiving Meal For Veterans Day, Stay Warm With A Nice Coffee Cocktail With The Help Of Trade Coffee, Get A New Instant Pot On Sale Just In Time For The Holidays, Sierra Nevada Celebration IPA Is Fall’s Perfect Party Beer, Oak & Eden’s Award-Winning Cabernet-Infused Bourbon Is Back, We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Men's Journal and its partners. For leaner cuts, he suggests a bigger, bolder wine. If you plan to serve your porterhouse with a rich sauce, such as a Béarnaise, go for a full-bodied, high-tannin red such as a Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot. These wines … Try it: 2017 Rocca Di Castagnoli Chianti Classico. If you choose a wine that’s too bitter and tannic, your food might turn out more or less inedible. Wine doesn’t only impart tons of flavor and richness to tomato sauce, pasta dishes and pan sauces, but its acidity is actually great for tenderizing meat. Porterhouse steaks pair well with medium-bodied red wines; a Syrah is an excellent choice because of its refined tannins and notes of hearty black fruits. Try it: 2017 Talbott Kali Hart Pinot Noir. Chianti is famous for its herbaceous, earthy, peppery flavor, but it can also be on the fruity, delicate side. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest adventures, workouts, destinations, and more. As magical as red wine is to drink, it can really work wonders in sauces, stews and desserts. RELATED: What’s the Best White Wine for Cooking? Generously sprinkle salt and pepper all over steaks, then let steaks rest uncovered for 15 minutes at … Here Are 20 Great Options, According to a Wine Expert, I am not currently subscribed to PureWow.com, so please subscribe, I am already subscribed to PureWow.com, let me tell you the email address I used to subscribe, Please accept the terms and privacy statement by checking the box below, Wine Library/Background: Rawin Tanpin/EyeEm/Getty Images. Some wines pair well with pretty much any style of steak, but others are better suited to leaner or fattier cuts. Here Are the Top Bottles (and How to Choose Them, According to 3 Food Pros). Create one here. Whether you’re sinking your teeth into an inch-thick ribeye or a sizzling skirt steak, you want a wine that’ll both stand up to and complement the umami-rich character of beef. The best white wines for cooking with: Sauvignon Blanc White Bordeaux Pinot Grigio Sancerre Dry Vermouth. Recommended red wines for cooking: Pinot Noir, Barbera, Chianti, some Cabernet Sauvignon Red wines to avoid: Beaujolais Nouveau, Grenache, Shiraz, Zinfandel Because red wine is more tannic than white, it turns bitter faster when cooked. For sauces that could use a little sweetness, like something paired with mushrooms, this can be excellent. “For a fatty cut of beef, I would recommend a wine with good acidity, structure, and texture to clean the fattiness from the mouth,” says Sebastian Zuccardi, owner of Argentina’s Zuccardi Valle de Uco winery. Use merlot for a pan sauce or a reduction. Like cabernet and pinot noir, this wine also cooks well with proteins. And once the weather cools down, ’tis the season for cooking with it every chance we get. They even tested the same sauce recipe, one rapidly simmered and the other slowly reduced, and found they tasted completely different. It tends to be fruity and earthy in flavor with berry and mushroom notes. Even higher-quality Chianti that’s more tannic and fuller-bodied isn’t bold or dense enough to do a Cab’s job. Merlot is a silky red wine that’s fruit-forward with low tannins. Are you sure you want to remove this item from your Recipe Box? Try it: 2017 Carving Board Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. So, just because red wine and white wine have similar effects on food doesn’t mean you should use any old wine. Zuccardi was recently named one of the top 10 winemakers of South America. But there’s more you should know before hitting the kitchen. This style is versatile, great for both stews and soft, fatty meats, thanks to its tenderizing properties, as well as seafood and poultry. Never created a password? Similar to other acidic ingredients like lemon juice, vinegar and yogurt, wine breaks down the connective tissues in meat (aka collagen and muscle) and helps it to retain its juices. Be sure to use Cabernet when cooking meals like steak, short ribs, brisket or stew. Use Pinot Noir for salmon, duck or stew recipes. There’s no shortage of bottles that could work for a recipe, but there are a few specific styles to stick to when you’re on the hunt for the best red wine for cooking: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Chianti. All rights reserved. You also want a wine with good fruitiness and a little less acidity—but nothing too sweet, he adds. © 2010-2020 Wow Media products, Inc doing business as PureWow he suggests a bigger, wine... On low heat until it simmers an Argentinian, he adds mushroom notes in to... One rapidly simmered and the other slowly reduced, and its resulting oak flavors did soften... Intense Merlot pan on low heat until it simmers pair well with proteins remove this item from your Box. Good fruitiness and a little sweetness, like Cabernet and Pinot Noir, this wine also cooks with. Are great for hearty dishes smooth and come light- and medium-bodied here are the top Bottles ( and to! 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