The Auswine Forum

Can anyone please tell me when cooking with wine if the quality of the wine used makes a difference to the end result.
There is a recipe I am going to try which calls for a bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, marinade overnight and slow cook for four hours.
At the end you have the obvious wine reduction but does the quality of the wine used matter.
If you use a rich robust red do you finish up with a rich robust sauce?
Or do you go and buy a cheap bottle for cooking and drink the good stuff.
I read somewhere once that use for cooking what you are going to drink with the meal.
If I intend to drink a Cullens or Mosswood I will be blowed if I am going to donate a bottle to the cooking pot.
Regards,
Ron.

Ron,

I would not use a bottle of Cullen or MW either but the quality of the wine does impact on the flavour of the end product. I would use the best $15-20 Cab I had in my cellar in this circumstance.

If you wouldn't drink it don't cook with it!

I'd certainly go for something with rich fruit, 2002 Riverland stuff ia cheap and fits the bill.

steve and torb are spot on - you do get back what you put in but only to a certain point

its still amazing how many people you hear say they dont like a wine and then say they will use it instead to cook with!

The only thing to do with wine you wouldn't drink (other than brett affected, corked or otherwise faulty wine) is to put it in a large ceramic jug, along with all of your other scraps of red wine, and let it turn into a nice homemade red wine vinegar. Any good Italian mamma will tell you that.

Regards,

Allan

Thanks for your replies will cook with something from the cellar this weekend thats around the $25.00 mark.
Regards,
Ron