Do you want a white wine that is dry to cook with? What you need to remember is the fact that wine needs to be enjoyable by itself. If the wine is not of good quality, it could ruin the taste of delicious food.
There are some great-tasting white wines at very reasonable costs. Also, avoid “cooking wine” since it likely earned its name because it isn’t suitable for drinking.
If you’re going to go down, at least do it in a bath wine.
Most recipes require less than one bottle (usually about 1 cup), enough for a couple of glasses to accompany your dinner. If you want to learn more about how to cook with wine, look at this article on the six significant kinds of wine used in cooking.
Why Dry White Wine for Cooking?
As a rule, dry white wine (not sweet) is ideal for cooking lighter meals like chicken, pork soup, veal seafood, shellfish, and other vegetables. Below are some examples of these meals paired with various types of wine.
White Meat, Cream Sauces, and Gravies
Use more smoky and richly flavored dry white wines like Chardonnay for gravy, cream sauces, and chicken.
A variety of White wines can be smoky and creamy, but Chardonnay is most likely to be the most readily available. Making wine into a gravy or cream sauce requires expertise since it’s harder to regulate acidity or determine how much the wine has been reduced. The best way to go is to lower the wine amount before mixing it into the cream.
Buy the book, and take an online course. Purchase the Wine 101 Course for 75% off with the purchase of Wine Folly: Magnum Edition.
Shop NowTake a look at this adorable video about Beurre Blanc (White Wine Butter Sauce) for inspiration.
Seafood and Shellfish
Dry white wines like Pinot Grigio add a mineral-like, fruity flavor, ideal for cooking seafood. A bit of acidity can help cut through the fattier fish, but it’s important not to make it too acidic since it is easy to exaggerate when cooking.
If you’re looking for a new way to enjoy wine, a variety of wines match this taste. Look through the white wine list to get more ideas.
Try Herbal, Dry White Wines
Sauvignon Blanc is a classic light wine with fruity, floral, and herbal flavor that gives an incredible flavor when cooking vegetables. It’s one of the most straightforward wines to cook with. Just pour it into the saute pan to reduce the cooking.
Explore these wine pairings with artichoke, Mediterranean-style tomatoes, Swiss chard, eggplant, garlic bell peppers, and mushrooms. Add a bit of lemon and butter to add a touch of flavor with the right balance of acid.
Use an easy beurre blanc recipe to create a white wine sauce variation.
Tips for cooking using White Wine
To cook cream sauces, simmer the wine separately and reduce it to half the amount you began with. After it’s reduced, then, you can add in the cream. The majority of recipes call for 1/2 to 1/4 cups of wine.
After sautéing the vegetables, pour a couple of tablespoons of wine into the pan to help deglaze.
To cook shellfish, add wine to the soup to cook shellfish (mussels or oysters).
Add the wine of a couple of tablespoons to the marinades to help soften the meat and also caramelize it during the cooking.
If you let the wine cook for longer, lower the alcohol in the dish. It could take as much as 2.5 hours of boiling time to remove alcohol.
White wine that is refrigerated, open, and chilled can be consumed for up to one week and is ideal for cooking for up to two weeks.