Posts Tagged ‘white wine’

There may be a day when you want to cook up a delicious meal that calls for white wine. Alas, you don’t have any white wine. You do, however, have some apple juice. Rumors are out there – apple juice can be substituted for white wine.

Almost, but not quite. No matter what you’re making, people will be able to tell the difference in a recipe that calls for wine and apple juice makes an appearance. The simple fact is that the components for these two drinks are very, very different, and all those subtle flavors will mix into the food to create very different results. However, if you’re in a bit of a bind, you may be able to toss in some apple juice instead for an equally flavorful meal, though it won’t be what you were expecting.

Here are a few tips if you ever run into such a problem. You’ll be able to get slightly closer results if the wine you’re replacing has apple flavors or a fruity style. Use unsweetened apple juice for better flavor and less sugar.

If pinot gris and pinot grigio are both pinots, then they can’t be that different, right?

Not so fast.

Despite the fact that both wines are white and come from the pinot grape variety, pinot gris hails from the Alsace region of France, whereas pinot grigio exists mainly in Italy. As anyone even remotely familiar with wine knows, a wine’s taste can differ greatly depending upon where it is grown. Just like real estate, it’s all about location, location, location.

Both grapes come from the pinot noir, but over time their separation and growing habits have transformed them into their own sort of grape, giving each one different flavors and end results. Pinot gris flavors can be medium to full-bodied and can range in color. Pinot grigio is much lighter, with a dry, crisp flavor. It is also much lighter in color. Though they taste different, their similarities lend them both to summertime drinking and enjoyment with chicken, fish, and “light” foods. Both are also very good for cooking when it comes to enhancing flavors.

Ultimately, whether you choose pinot gris or pinot grigio will depend upon what you like most.

The simple answer to this question is: Everywhere.

Indeed, the tricky part will be picking out recipes you want to try, and there are many delicious recipes out there that involve a number of wines. Consider experimenting with foods that you like the most and dishes you would enjoy trying. You’ll find a number of recipes that include white wine, red wine, some that cater to vegetarians, and some that offer up a bit of wine in desserts. The choices are seemingly endless!

You can start by looking in books and magazines, but if you aren’t interested in making a purchase to get recipes, you can easily look online. Check out well-known or more practical websites first such as the home pages of wine or cooking magazines, or food television networks. You can also try recipe websites that feature massive lists of recipes uploaded by people from all over the world. Recipe websites can be handy for those times when you have a few ingredients you think might be good together and can search various recipes with your combination.

So get out your recipe book and start experimenting, but remember—never cook with a wine you wouldn’t also enjoy drinking!

When you have a meager amount of wine left in your bottle but you’re loathe to throw it out, what can you do with it?  Smart minds develop unique ways to utilize the remainder of their wine.  Remember, wine is great with foods, so finding ways to mix and match it up with a few dishes can be a great idea.

If you have a good white wine, break out the blender and cheese!  A quality Brie or Saint-André can mix up nicely with a bit of wine and add a little extra zest the next time you’re spreading this soft mix on your bread.  From there, all you have to do is craft your new cheese into a delicious recipe and enjoy.

You can always kick start older recipes by throwing in the remainder of your wine.  Have a hearty red?  Pour it in with a beef stew and let it mix in with all the juices and broth.  Suddenly, a typical winter stew just got an extra jolt of flavor.

Freeze it for use later!  Pour the wine into ice cube trays and use it to chill other drinks that could do with a splash of wine flavor.

While most wine regions within and outside of Portugal utilize multiple grapes for their particular areas, Bairrada actually relies almost completely upon a single grape variety.  In fact, 80% of the wines in Bairrada are crafted using the Baga grape, ending in a red wine that can be anywhere from highly astringent to quite dazzling.  In the end, it depends upon the maker of the wine and how they decide to handle their grapes in order to transform it into a great bottle.

Bairrada has many small growers in the area; approximately 4,700 with very small plots of land in which to do their growing and bottling.  Many of these vineyards have been in the area for a long time, some for more than 50 years.  There are only a small number of white wines that come out of the Bairrada region, and it is well worth looking for them for a quick taste to see everything that Portugal can provide.

White wines are not all created equal.  Certain white wines will remain in the cellar for a long time before they peak and are suitable for drinking.  Others peak rather early, making for a tasty bottle without all of the waiting.  So which bottles are ready to go and which ones need some time alone?

Pinot Grigio needs only a year or so before it’s ready to be poured into your glass.  Though it is important to remember that this does not necessarily mean all Pinot Grigio bottles, it does include a large majority of them.

Chardonnays need only a year or two more than Pinot Grigio.  These tend to include the bottles that don’t cost an arm and a leg; if you spot one of those, it may have remained in the cellar a bit longer.

Grüner Veltliner wine takes things up a notch, needing as much as eight years before its release to the public.

Cru Chablis rolls right off the tongue, however, if you want the wine to roll off your tongue, the wait can be as much as a decade.

At the longest timeframe of twenty or potentially even more years is the Auslese Riesling.  They don’t call Riesling one of the noble grapes for nothing!

If you’re thinking of Don Quixote, you’re not too far off the mark when it comes to the La Mancha region.  In fact, one logo you might see referencing the region is a man on horseback with a long lance (and who looks suspiciously familiar…).

The La Mancha region is 190,000 hectares wherein 300 vineyards make their home, producing over 100 million liters of wine each year.  The La Mancha region takes up a large place in Spain, making it perfect for wine lovers who wish to travel; in fact, it is the largest wine region.  You can taste a great number of different wines from the area.  Six different red wines are crafted here, from Cincibel to Merlot.  Five different white wines are also made in the area, from Chardonnay to Airen.  Of course, each vineyard may decide to do a bit of mixing in the process, providing drinkers with many varying flavors and delights.

If you are looking for more foods to pair with the right wines, then start to take notes.  If you are a newcomer to the world of wine and food pairings, a good idea is to pay attention to the foods and wines that work well together and consider all their characteristics in order to make smart pairings in the future.

Light white wines are always amazing with chilled seafood and raw oysters, but you can also enjoy them with tofu dishes with added light flavor.  Medium white wines are tasty with green salads and vegetable pastas that are simple and fresh.  Full-bodied white wines work well with roasted chicken or rich seafood dishes that involve such items as crab.

Light red wines make a wonderful match with grilled chicken or meaty fish dishes.  Medium-bodied red wines really bring out the flavor when it comes to pastas that are tomato-based or game meats such as venison.  A full-bodied red wine works well with rich, flavorful meals that involve pot roast, steak, and slow-cooked pork.  Savory and delectable.

For years people have turned to wines, white and red alike, to add additional flavor to their dishes.  From a splash to several cups, a delicious wine can make or break an entire dinner.  In the case of white wine, flavors are added into the food as well as helping bring out some of the natural herbs, spices, and other ingredients involved.

So what happens when you put together a recipe with white wine?  Many people believe that once the wine is tossed into the mix, the alcohol evaporates, leaving behind the rest of the wine and all its flavorful glory.  However, studies actually show that 85% of the alcohol actually remains once added and then removed.  It is true, though, that the longer the wine remains over the heat, the more alcohol will simmer away.  After one hour, only 25% of the alcohol remains.

As always, remember to avoid cooking wines.  These types of “wines” are made of a very cheap base wine and then had all manner of salts and food dyes added to it.  If you can’t conceive of doing that to a good bottle of wine, why would you bother cooking with it?

Sometimes certain foods just work perfectly with certain wines.  But one cannot just say, “Pair white wine with fish.”  There are too many white wines and too many types of fish to be so general!  Take a quick look at this list below before making any solid wine and fish and seafood choices.

Champagne is a solid choice for delectable raw oysters or a seafood dish that utilizes creamy sauces with rich flavors.

Sauvignon blanc is so light and crisp that it matches beautifully with the freshness of herbs and citrus flavors, so fish prepared in a simple manner with these flavors work well, such as mahi-mahi, shrimp, clams, or mussels.

Beaujolais works when the fish is a little heavier and meatier, such as tuna, swordfish, shark, or sturgeon.  You can also try a merlot with fish such as these.

Chardonnay’s light taste makes it a great partner with seafood dishes that have rich and buttery creamy sauces.  Lobster, crab, swordfish, or shark work well with a glass of chardonnay.