Can You Cook With Non Alcoholic Wine?

TED LEVINE/GETTY IMAGES

Author W.C Fields once said “I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food” - probably good that he was an author then, since every culinary star from Julia Child to Carla Hall has used wine through the years to add that “je ne c’est quoi” to recipes. If you’ve ever read up on how to use wine in your cooking, most sommelier chefs suggest using a mid-range wine when a recipe calls for it - one that has the flavours you need, but you won’t feel financially guilty pouring a cup or two into a sauce. This then begs the question, can you swap out the wine in your next coq a vin for a non alcoholic version? Or is that sacreligious?

Even the most boozy chef will tell you cooking with wine is about the flavour and not the alcohol content. Unfortunately, a lot of non alcoholic wines fall flat when it comes to flavour. The alcohol molecule holds most of the flavour in wine, so dealcoholization often removes the complex nuances in flavour that you look for in wine. However, under heat on the stove even the best Chianti loses its grippiness and there are now a plethora of premium non alcoholic wines with an elevated flavour profile.

Our theory is that you can cook with non alcoholic wine, with some modifications to heat and process so we put it to the test! **Note that we do not recommend trying this with cheap grocery store wine - try and find a premium non alcoholic blend from a legitimate winemaker!

We started with a non alcoholic red wine that was opened but not particularly our cup of tea. Strangely enough, sometimes on the second or third day after opening a non alcoholic wine it actually tastes better. The wine used in this experiment was a juicy Cab Sauv from Edenvale in Australia which was slightly too ‘grapey’ on day one, but had mellowed quite a lot by the third day.

After braising a sirloin tip in a dutch oven for several hours, the bottom of the pan was crusty and full of drippings. We popped the meat out, drained a little bit of the leftover cooking liquid and poured in about 1.5 cups of the Edenvale Cab Sauv, a pinch of chopped garlic and some thyme.

We turned the gas to low-medium heat, to compensate for the lack of alcohol, and brought the mixture to a very gentle simmer, scraping the browned and crusty bits at the bottom every minute or two. It took about ten minutes to cook down the wine until it was totally integrated and slightly thicker. Some recipes call for butter or broth, but with a hungry family waiting we skipped the complexity and just used what we had.

When the reduction was “done” it was actually unbelievably tasty. The extra grapey backbone of the cab sauv created a flavourful sauce that you wouldn’t know started with a non alcoholic wine. It was delicious drizzled on top of the roast meat and even the junior diners at the table agreed it was a nice addition.

We’re big fans of rethinking drinking, and if not opening a bottle of wine just to cook with it will help avoid the temptation, then try out our theory that you absolutely can get the flavour you need from a premium non alcoholic wine. Two wines we recommend (unbiased, non sponsored suggestions) are the Zeero Sangiovese (a Chianti-style wine) from Casa Emma in Italy or Point Five Pinot Noir from Leitz in Germany as a starting point.

And we wouldn’t say no if we were invited over for dinner! Cin Cin!