Cooking with wine is a bit of a minefield.
While you may be tempted to grab whatever bottle is lurking in the back of your fridge, the bottle you choose does matter to a degree.
We produced this handy guide to help you prepare delectable white wine-based meals.
What is the best white wine to cook with?
To choose the best white wine for cooking, you need to consider a few factors.
1. High acidity and fruity flavors work well for cooking
Choose a low-alcohol wine with some acidity and a hint of fruit on the scent unless you're creating a sweet meal. If you're making a sweet dish, a Riesling is a good choice.
2. Low alcohol means more flavors
Wine replaces the acid in most recipes while adding subtle, nuanced flavors. You don't want to add a booze bomb to the mix because everything will taste like it.
The idea in most white wine recipes is to boil off the alcohol so the taste may come through." White wines with a lighter body have lower alcohol by volume (ABV). Look for bottles with a 10% to 12% alcohol content, such as Pinot Grigio.
3. If you won’t drink it, don’t cook with it
We suggest purchasing cooking wines from a wine department at a grocery shop or liquor store rather than from the general food aisle since most 'cooking wine' has a lot of salt added to it.
But that doesn't mean you have to spend $100 on a good inexpensive cooking wine for your meals, either.
What is a good dry white wine for cooking?
We have suggestions for every kind of white wine to cook your meals with. Choose the ones that suit your taste the most.
Pinot Grigio
Boasting a crisp and invigorating flavor, this white wine, similar to Pinot Noir's white counterpart, harmonizes beautifully with a wide range of dishes.
Use it to add vibrancy to vegetable-focused meals, such as vegan cauliflower scampi in a lemony garlic white wine sauce, or to enhance the appeal of light pasta creations.
Barefoot Pinot Grigio American
The taste of this wine is defined by tart green apple flavors with a white peach undertone.
When you sip this white wine, floral blooms, and citrus flavors dance on your tongue. The Pinot Grigio from Barefoot is light-bodied with a sparkling finish.
The Yellow Tail Pinot Grigio grapes are sourced from the best vineyards in South-Eastern Australia.
Pinot Grigio is an Italian grape varietal that thrives in the warm environment of Australia. The grapes are picked late at night and carried to the winery to be crushed and clarified. It's one of the best white wines for cooking!
The Pinot Grigio from Pasqua is a delightful, juicy wine with traces of peach and apricot as well as floral aromas. It's light, airy, and well-balanced.
The must is cleaned slightly by static settling. The fermentation process begins with the inoculation of selected yeasts at a temperature of 16-18° C. The product is then refined before being stored in stainless steel tanks.
Sauvignon Blanc
Sauvignon Blanc is synonymous with acidity, making it an excellent substitute for lemon or vinegar in recipes.
This wine variety is widely available, with a diverse range of Sauvignon Blanc options in most liquor stores.
Renowned for its popularity and distinctive "green" flavor profile, Sauvignon Blanc also tends to lean towards a drier taste profile.
The color of the wine is a vivid yellow with green reflections. Citrus flavors are dry, zesty, and lemony on the tongue.
The taste is perfectly balanced, with crisp and refreshing acidity.
Riesling
Although numerous famous Rieslings are late-harvest selections, signifying grapes picked later in the growing season for added sweetness, you can choose a dry Riesling when using it for cooking.
Its elevated acidity will provide a lively contrast to creamy chicken dishes and will not overwhelm seafood preparations.
It is a refreshing wine with a charming, elegant character, typical for the grape variety Riesling. The bouquet is fruity and reminiscent of peaches, apricots, grapefruit, and crisp apples.
This wine is a highly attractive summer wine with a moderate alcoholic content and very pleasing sugar content.
Vinho Verde
If you're searching for a white wine that imparts zest and citrusy notes to your cooking, look no further than Vinho Verde.
This wine is delightful and light, and showcases lovely citrus accents. Notably, Vinho Verde possesses a gentle effervescence, though it falls just short of qualifying as a semi-sparkling wine.
It has a refreshing fizz with a touch of sweetness that perfectly matches the natural acidity of the young wine.
As one of the best white wines for cooking, it offers a fruited aroma, with hints of lime, melon, and green apple.
