How to Cook with Red Wine (and What to Drink While You Do!)
Cooking with red wine is a little bit of magic — a splash here, a simmer there, and suddenly your dish transforms with depth, richness, and complexity. Whether you’re making a slow-simmered stew, a glossy reduction, or looking to add that little something extra, cooking with the right wine can take your dishes from good to unforgettable.
But here’s the best part — while that wine is working its magic in your dish, you should absolutely be drinking a glass of it too.
Why Cook with Red Wine?
Red wine brings layers of flavour — acidity, fruit, earth, spice — that water, stock, or broth alone can’t offer. As it reduces, the alcohol cooks off and what’s left behind is rich, savoury complexity. It’s perfect for braises and stews, reductions and sauces, risotto and pasta dishes, marinades, and even levels up your poached fruits and chocolatey desserts.
The key is to treat wine like any other quality ingredient: if you wouldn’t drink it, don’t cook with it.
Things to remember
Use quality reds that match the dish! Full-bodied wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, or Malbec are ideal for red meat, rich sauces, and anything slow-cooked. For more complexity, wines like Grenache or Gamay lend their lighter, fruitier nature to poultry and pork dishes, as well as a little bit of sweetness to reductions or desserts.
Don’t add your wine too late! Add wine early enough to let it reduce and bind with your ingredients. Pouring it in at the end can leave a harsh, boozy edge instead of a smooth, seamless finish.
Use it in layers! Deglaze the pan after searing, reduce it for sauces, or marinate ahead — each step adds more depth and another layer of complexity to your dish.
Pair the cooking wine with your glass! Want to really elevate the experience? Sip the same wine you’re cooking with. It ties the flavours together beautifully.
Not sure what to cook?
When the nights get long and the air turns crisp, there’s nothing better than letting red wine do the heavy lifting in your kitchen. Introducing wine into your cooking can be a little daunting at first, so we asked Chef Aaron Brodie of O’Connell’s in South Melbourne to list us some of his favourite meals to make using wine. For his mains, Aaron went all in on comfort and indulgence.
Red Wine Braised Beef Cheek Bourginon
Meltingly tender beef cheeks, braised slowly in red wine with herbs, mushrooms, and root vegetables. The ultimate winter comfort—rich, warming, and deeply satisfying.
To drink while you cook:
By the glass – While a hearty dish like Beef bourguignon is traditionally matched with a well-structured Burgundy, our pick would be the Yangarra Old Vine Grenache. The juicy red characters offer a nice lift to the palate to contrast the deep flavours of the slow-cooked beef. Yangarra’s old dry-grown vines produce a wonderfully structured wine, with fine tannins that can hold their own against a hearty dish.
By the bottle – A classic match, Arnaud Baillot’s Bourgogne Rouge has the perfect balance of fruit and structure to compliment the rich flavours of the slow-cooked beef. If you’re searching for a bottle that can do it all, this is what we’d recommend.
Coq au Vin
Indulge in the rich, soul-warming flavours of Coq au Vin, a timeless French countryside classic. Tender chicken is slow-braised in a deep, velvety red wine sauce, infused with fragrant herbs, smoky bacon, and earthy mushrooms – every bite melts in your mouth, delivering layers of bold, savoury goodness.
To drink while you cook:
By the Glass – The juicy fruit and bright acidity of the Te Mata Gamay cuts through the richness of the fat in the chicken and the red wine braise, while the lighter body of a Gamay complements the delicate protein.
By the Bottle – Doubling down on Gamay’s ability to complement Coq au Vin, we would suggest a wine on the dish’s home turf – Dominique Piron Beaujolais. This wine works perfectly for all the same reasons, and with a home-field advantage, it’s hard to fault.
Something more adventurous?
To test out your skills – and your tastebuds! – really put your wine to work to create a red wine sauce. Using slow-roasted fish bones, pair this sauce with your favourite firm, white fleshed fish.
By the Glass – Keep it light, and fresh! Despite the rich flavours from the red wine-based fish sauce, we don’t want a wine that will overpower the delicate flavours of the protein. Save Our Souls Pinot Noir is juicy, fresh, and light on its feet and will complements a white fish dish, perfectly.
By the Bottle – Taking it even lighter, this recommendation can even be served chilled. Mac Forbes Pinot Meunier is an incredibly elegant wine with fresh acidity that complements the fishes natural flavour, balancing the perfect melt in your mouth consistency we’re going for with white fish.
Ready to get cooking?
Cooking with wine isn’t just about flavour — it’s about creating an experience. Pour yourself a glass, turn on your favourite playlist, and get into that flow state of chopping, stirring, and tasting. Good wine and good food belong together, from the start of a recipe to the final toast.
Ready to get cooking? Let us know what you’re making, and we’ll help you find the perfect bottle to pour in the pot and in your glass.