Cooking with red wine is a great way to intensify and enhance a dish. It's a simple way to impress guests by highlighting the subtle flavors of sauces and marinades. Adding red wine can take a recipe from incomplete to full-bodied and rich. As you shop for a list of ingredients to buy for a meal, you may be overwhelmed by the choices in the wine department. Which wine is best?
Principles
There are basic principles that explain which red wines are best for certain dishes. It's important to take into account how much acid the dish and wine each possess. In general, an acidic wine, such as a Chianti, needs an acidic dish to stand up to. Try it with tomatoes. Tannins are another guiding principle. Tannins refer to the dry, astringent feeling left in your mouth after you drink. Tannins will leave a dish tasting this way, unless it contains meat, like a marinade for a roast. Proteins love tannins and will pull them out of the wine, leaving the dish soft and edible. Sugar is another element. As the wine cooks, the flavors including the sugar intensify. This means sweet wines will only get sweeter. In general, ports and other dessert wines should be used in dessert syrups.
General pairing principles can also be followed. Just think, if you would drink it alongside a dish, then throw it in. Lighter, simpler red wines like a pinot noir should be used in lighter dishes like those with fish or chicken, while darker, more full-bodied wines like a cabernet sauvignon can be used with a richer meal like lamb.
Preferences
After taking into basic principles into consideration, you should follow one overarching principle. What do you prefer? Although there are certain rules that generally work, the most important rule is what works for you. Maybe you like tannins in your vegetarian dish or a full-bodied wine with a light meal. Because you and your guests are the ones enjoying the meal, the wine, as well as all the other ingredients, should be ones you like. Wine is just another component of a dish and is not regulated by any governing board. If it works for you, do it.
As far as price, you should choose a wine you enjoy. This doesn't mean you have to spend a lot of money, but it doesn't mean you have go for the low-budget "cooking wines" either. Choose a wine that you can afford and that you like to drink and use it. After all, it doesn't take much wine to add great flavor to a dish and you will want to enjoy drinking the rest of the bottle.
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