Winemaking has gotten complicated with all the techniques and equipment flying around. As someone with extensive winemaking experience, I learned everything there is to know about crafting wine. Today, I will share it all with you.

Cooking Wine: What I Actually Use in My Kitchen

Here is a confession: I used to buy that salty cooking wine from the grocery store aisle. The stuff next to the vinegar in the little bottles. Then I actually tasted it, and realized why my coq au vin always turned out slightly wrong. That salt-bomb had no place near my food.

Let me share what I have learned after years of accidentally ruining (and occasionally nailing) wine-based recipes.

The Only Rule That Actually Matters

Do not cook with wine you would not drink. I know, you have heard this before. But here is the thing – you do not need expensive wine for cooking. You just need drinkable wine. That eight dollar bottle of table wine? Perfect. That three dollar jug of mystery grape? Maybe not.

The heat concentrates flavors, including bad ones. I once made a mushroom risotto with some old wine that had been open for three weeks. It tasted like I had added a splash of vinegar. Lesson learned – if it smells off, it cooks off wrong.

Red Wines for Cooking

For beef stew, braised short ribs, or anything with red meat and a long simmer time, I grab a bottle of cheap Cabernet or Merlot. Nothing fancy. The wine breaks down during cooking, so all those subtle notes wine snobs talk about completely disappear anyway.

I keep a bottle of red specifically for cooking in my pantry. Once opened, I use it within a week or two. Some people freeze leftover wine in ice cube trays, which works great – I just never remember to actually do it.

White Wines for Cooking

White wine is my go-to for chicken, fish, pasta sauces, and deglazing pans. I usually reach for Sauvignon Blanc because it is dry with decent acidity. Chardonnay works too, especially the unoaked versions – oaked Chardonnay can make sauces taste buttery in a weird way.

For a classic pan sauce: saute your protein, remove it, pour in some white wine, scrape up the brown bits, add butter, done. This technique has saved countless weeknight dinners in my house.

Sherry and Other Fortified Wines

Dry sherry is magic for soups and sauces. A splash in French onion soup transforms it completely. I add it to cream sauces and certain Asian-inspired dishes too.

Fair warning: cream sherry (the sweet stuff) is not the same thing. I made this mistake once with a mushroom soup. It tasted like dessert. Not in a good way.

Marsala wine goes in chicken Marsala (obviously) and I add it to certain Italian sauces. Port works for reduction sauces with duck or beef, though you need less because it is sweeter and stronger.

Rice Wine for Asian Cooking

Shaoxing wine is essential for Chinese cooking. I cannot make decent stir-fry without it. Mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine) goes in teriyaki, ramen broth, and marinades.

These are not interchangeable with regular wine. I tried using Chardonnay in a stir-fry once because I was out of Shaoxing. It was… noticeably wrong. Keep the Asian wines separate in your mental cooking database.

Common Mistakes I Have Made

Adding wine at the wrong time. If you add it too late, you get harsh alcohol flavor. Wine needs time to reduce and integrate. Add it early, let it simmer.

Using too much. A little wine goes far. Start with a quarter cup and add more if needed. I have oversalted plenty of dishes, but I have also over-wined them, which is worse because you cannot fix it.

Thinking the alcohol cooks off completely. It does not. Depending on cooking time and method, anywhere from 25% to 85% of the alcohol can remain. This matters if you are cooking for people who avoid alcohol for health or religious reasons.

Some Recipes That Changed My Mind

Beef bourguignon: The first time I made this properly with a full bottle of wine (and patience), I understood why it is a classic. The wine becomes this silky, deeply flavored sauce that coats everything.

Mussels in white wine: Stupid simple, stupid delicious. Wine, garlic, butter, mussels. Steam until they open. Eat with crusty bread.

Red wine braised anything: Pork shoulder, beef chuck, lamb shanks – low and slow with red wine transforms tough cuts into fork-tender magic.

Bottom Line

Keep a decent bottle of red and white wine in your kitchen. Use it within a couple weeks of opening. Do not overthink it – cooking wine does not need to be fancy, just drinkable.

And throw out that salty stuff in the grocery aisle. Your food will thank you.