HOW TO COOK WITH WINE

SEPTEMBER 27th 2021

Cooking with wine can enrich and add body to just about any recipe. From enhancing rich meat flavours in a slow-cooked stew to creating a beautifully fragrant marinade or even just adding a generous glug into a pasta sauce or a hearty risotto. Today’s article will cover everything you need to know about cooking with wine and how to incorporate your favourite Whitehall wines into your next dish.

The golden rules of cooking with wine

Use wines you would normally choose to drink – if you know you’re a fan of a particular wine, you can be sure it’ll add flavours you like to your food!

Ensure the wine isn’t corked – wines with screw-top lids are much more likely to prevent this.

Start with small amounts of wine (no matter the recipe) and then add gradually to taste. Remember, you can always add more, but you can’t take it away.

Add the wine in the beginning steps of your cooking so the alcohol has a chance to burn off. If you add the wine too close to the end of the process you will be left with an unpleasant raw wine taste.

Cooking with Red Wine

When it comes to cooking with red wine, you want to make sure you’re using medium-bodied reds, which will ensure a further depth of flavour.

Not just for meaty sauces and stews, red can be added into other more unconventional recipes, such as a beetroot risotto. And remember a little goes a long way with infusing red wine into your cooking.

Feeling ready to incorporate red wine into your next recipe? Why not try one of our signature reds…

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Cooking with White Wine

Let’s cook with white wine, pairing perfectly in dishes such as risotto and of course, in the classic white wine sauce. When cooking with white wine, remember crisp and dry white wines work best. A staple for most cooks, white wine is extremely flexible.

You can use white wine to deglaze any sticky brown bits in the pan for a sauce for fish, chicken or mushrooms. You can even add a touch into the pot with your shellfish before steaming to infuse the flavours. The possibilities when cooking with white wine are truly endless.

Ready to try one of our white wines in your next culinary adventure?

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