Coming from a European background, I am used to enthusiastically adding wine to many of my cooking creations. The Europeans and particularly the Swiss, French and Italians, have been adding wine to their culinary masterpieces for centuries.
The “rule of thumb” when selecting a cooking wine is to select a wine you wouldn’t mind drinking. Not your best wine though, as all fine wines lose their excellent characteristics during the cooking process.
It is a good rule of thumb to avoid cheap “cooking wines” as they are full of additional sodium and additives. Start your experimental cooking with a good table wine.
In general, with some exceptions, use white wines for cooking chicken, turkey and fish. Pork is really suitable for both red and white. Red wines are better suited to red meats, beef and lamb. Your taste buds are always the best judge. White wines can add some needed acidity to rich, creamy sauces.
Unless it is specifically requested in a recipe, use dry wines for cooking rather than sweet wines.
The amount of wine you add to your dishes depend very much on personal taste, the recipe and the number of people you’re cooking for. If I’m cooking lamb shanks in the slow cooker, I use half a bottle or more to cover the meat. One glass of wine will make a rich reduction to drizzle over a filet or a steak. See my cooking tips
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