Cooking with Wine & Tavolo Vino

[Cypress]

Questo e mia italiano estate stagione. This is my Italian summer season. I have enjoyed reading, language study and cooking of course all with Italy as the focal point. I have a recipe for Arrabbiata Sauce that asks for 1/4 cup of bianco vino.

As I do not drink wine at all, it's important that now I am pursauded to enjoy a glass of wine with meals as well as cook, I have no idea what to start with. I would appreciate any guidance on a cooking wine, but if the same white can be drunk with a meal. I seem to recall a chef on TV saying cook with table wines only not store cooking wines as you will be dissappointed.

There is one decent wine store nearby that might help. I just don't want to invest too much but have a quality vino to start with. Here I am 50 years old and just getting around to wine with meals and for health.

Presto

[ApatheticNoMore]

I personally think it's ok to cook with 2 buck chuck (the $2 trader joe wine, $3 some parts of the country) :) Isn't much of the subtlety of a wine lost in the overall flavor of the meal anyway? (as opposed to when you drink it). I love love love the Italian summer idea by the way.

[Gregg]

The rule is that you shouldn't cook with something you wouldn't want to drink. It makes sense because if you like something in a glass you should also like it in food and the reverse for things you don't like. If you like 2 buck Chuck then by all means cook with it. Wine, like anything else you taste, is totally subjective. A good wine store should be able to show you all kinds of things that will work for you at reasonable prices. Anymore you can find endless varities of great wine under $15/bottle and lots for around $8. Take your recipe for that night into the store with you, there might just be someone there that can help you match up a wine from that. At least have an idea what general profile you are looking for (dry, sweet, fruity, citrus...). They can steer you from there.

[bae]

Seek out some nice Australian wine in the under $10/bottle category, and you'll be happy, it's pretty consistently decent, and a reasonable value.

[rosarugosa]

I would recommend Pinot Grigio as a mild white that doesn't seem to offend anyone. For red, Shiraz is mild and fruity without being too sweet. DH usually cooks with whatever I'm drinking at any given time:) I'm far from a wine sophisticate, but I've learned just enough so that I know what I like.
I too have heard that you shouldn't cook with anything you wouldn't drink.

[Cypress]

Greetings on a cloudy Tuesday. Guess where I bought the wine. WalMart! Once in a while I go for convenience based on the shopping list. One stop only. This WalMart had an alchohol section displaying several excellent choices for wines including all the way from Italy. The price range was from $4 - $24. I opted for a brand from California. A Pinot Grigio which is very nice all on it's own. I need to practice my Arrabbiatta sauce including the ability to roll my RRRR'Sss

Grazie

[herbgeek]

Another option to consider: Yankee Spirits. Joe A. runs the wine department, and really knows his stuff. He's been really helpful in picking out wines within a certain budget, to go with particular foods, or to suggest other wines I might like based on the wines I already like.

If you're looking to get a free wine education, sign up for their mailing list for free wine seminars. We've probably been to half a dozen. They bring in a winemaker from a region (I've been to talks with winemakers from Italy, Chile, Argentina, Australia, France etc.) Talks are usually held at the Host in Sturbridge, and there are cheese and crackers. Talks usually 1.5-2 hours and they go over the geography, the terrain, climate, the type of grapes grown etc. Very informative. No obligation of any sort, but obviously they are happy when you purchase. The wines being talked about are discounted usually 20%. There's an Italian one next week, but its likely full by now. They fill up within a day of being announced, that's why you need to be on the mailing list.

[iris lily]

There is nothing like a saute' beef dish finished with red wine glaze. I don't buy separate cooking and table wine, I just buy table wine and use it to cook.

I've lost track of what is a good value. Wines from Chile and Argentina were, a few years ago, considered good values. Australian wines are, too.

Some of the widely distributed wines that are my "go to" ones from the grocery store are: Columbia Crest grand estate (from Washington state) and Coppola's Claret, but only when the latter is on sale for around $12.00. It has a ridiculous gold mesh bottle cover that is frufru and adds unnecessary cost to the product.

I really don't know anything about Italian wines even though they are popular here. I just never know what to ask for in the store so I stick to the grapes I know.

[Mrs-M]

Whenever I prepare a dish that requires wine, I select only the best... table wine all the way! There is no substitute.

[IshbelRobertson]

A good tip if you have a small amount of wine left in the bottle after cooking and eating is to put it in an ice-cube and then freeze. I then have small amounts ready to de-glaze pans etc or to add to the stock for casseroles. The resulting ice cubes can de grainy in appearance, but once they've melted, who cares?!

[iris lily]

As a Cabernet fiend, I am not knowledgeable about Italian wines, so I can't help you. But I cook with whatever red I've got open. There are few things better than a beef dish made with a red wine reduction.

while there are a bezillion websites that could educate us, I think I will just start by asking here: guy, if I like Cabernet and Merlot and Cab Franc, the big reds, what are the Italian equivalents?