What is the best red wine for cooking?

A dry, fruity, medium-bodied red without heavy oak. America's Test Kitchen suggests blended American or Australian reds or a French Côtes du Rhône, and Wine Spectator's Dr. Vinny likes young Grenache, Syrah or Zinfandel.

What red wine should you not cook with?

Avoid heavily oaked reds, which can turn bitter when cooked, sweet reds such as Port unless the recipe asks for them, salted cooking wine, and any bottle you wouldn't be happy to drink.

Does all the alcohol cook out of red wine?

No. In the USDA's retention table, wine stirred into a dish and simmered for 1 hour keeps about 25% of its alcohol, 2 hours keeps about 10%, and 2.5 hours keeps about 5%.

What can I substitute for red wine in a recipe?

Use beef or vegetable broth, and for every half cup stir in half a teaspoon of red wine vinegar just before serving. Red vermouth also works but is sweeter, so add a few drops of lemon juice or red wine vinegar.

Do I need an expensive red wine for cooking?

No. The wine should be sound and pleasant to drink, but a long braise doesn't need a pricey bottle. An inexpensive dry red or a box wine is fine.

Best Red Wine for Cooking (and How Much Alcohol Stays)

The best red wine for cooking is a dry, fruity, medium-bodied red without much oak, such as a Côtes du Rhône, a basic red blend, Grenache, Merlot or a young Zinfandel. That kind of wine adds fruit, acidity and color to stews, braises and pan sauces without turning bitter or sweet as it reduces. It doesn’t need to be expensive, but it should be a wine you’d drink.

What makes a good cooking red

Wine Enthusiast’s guide makes a useful point: for braising or deglazing, the style matters more than the grape. What you want:

Dry. Unless a recipe asks for a fortified or dessert wine, Wine Enthusiast recommends dry reds: Merlot instead of Port, for example.
Fruit over oak. Wine Spectator’s Dr. Vinny says that once the alcohol evaporates, what’s left is the wine’s flavor, especially its fruit, and that oaky notes end up tasting bitter when cooked. His go-to reds are a young Grenache, Syrah or Zinfandel with ripe berry and cherry flavors.
Medium body, not too sweet. America’s Test Kitchen recommends medium-bodied, non-oaked wines that aren’t too sweet. For red, it suggests blended (non-varietal) American or Australian wines, or a French Côtes du Rhône.

Style	Good for	Notes
Côtes du Rhône or Grenache	Stews, braises, ragù	Named by America’s Test Kitchen and Dr. Vinny
Merlot	All-purpose	Wine Enthusiast’s example of a dry cooking red; see our Merlot wine guide
Young Zinfandel or Syrah	Short ribs, beef, lamb	Dr. Vinny’s picks; more on Syrah and Shiraz
Gamay or other light reds	Pan sauces for chicken or pork	Wine Enthusiast’s light-bodied pick
Tempranillo	Tangy, savory sauces	Wine Enthusiast’s less-fruity option

Our pick for an all-purpose cooking red is an inexpensive Côtes du Rhône: dry, fruity and easy to find.

Red wines to avoid

Heavily oaked reds. Wine Enthusiast says the only dry wines to avoid for cooking are heavily oaked ones, because they can develop bitter flavors. Save the oak-aged Napa Cabernet for the glass.
Sweet reds and Port, unless the recipe asks for them. Reducing wine concentrates its acidity and sweetness, so a wine that tastes a little honeyed becomes more so in the pot (Wine Enthusiast).
Very jammy reds in tangy sauces. Wine Enthusiast’s example: a jammy California red blend can suit a reduction for red wine brownies but taste cloying in a tangy barbecue sauce.
Anything you wouldn’t drink. Dr. Vinny’s rule includes bad wine, flawed wine and bottles that have been open “for who-knows-how-long.”
Salted cooking wine. It contains added salt and preservatives, and Dr. Vinny warns it can make a dish taste salty or even metallic. Our white wine for cooking guide explains the federal salt rule behind the label.

In our view, very tannic young reds are also a riskier choice for a long reduction, since reduction concentrates whatever is in the wine. A softer, fruitier red is the safer bet.

How to use red wine, dish by dish

Stews and braises. Braising means cooking something slowly in a small amount of barely simmering liquid. Cookbook writer Lauren Salkeld, quoted by Wine Enthusiast, browns the meat and some vegetables on the stove, adds a mix of wine and stock, and moves the pot to the oven for several hours. Wine Enthusiast notes that lamb and beef usually pair well with dry reds, which is why dry Zinfandel works in braised short ribs. We’d brown the meat well first: the browned bits are where much of the flavor comes from.

Ragù and meat sauces. The Accademia Italiana della Cucina’s updated recipe for ragù alla bolognese, filed with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce in April 2023, calls for a glass of red or white wine. The wine goes in after the meat has browned and cooks until it has completely evaporated, before the tomato and broth are added and the sauce simmers for about two hours. Brandy in place of wine is on the Accademia’s list of unacceptable variants. For pasta sauces with a shorter cook, we’d use a lighter, fruitier red.

Pan sauces. Deglazing means pouring wine into a hot pan to lift the browned bits stuck to the bottom. Wine Enthusiast suggests a light-bodied dry red such as Gamay for a sauce after sautéed chicken or pork. For steak, a splash of the same dry red you plan to drink works well; our guide to wine with steak covers what to pour.

Reductions. When wine simmers until it thickens, every trait gets stronger. Wine Enthusiast’s advice is to match the wine to the recipe: a less fruity red, such as many Tempranillos, for a tangy sauce, and a jammier red for something sweet.

How much alcohol stays after cooking

Cooking removes alcohol slowly, and never completely. The USDA’s Table of Nutrient Retention Factors (Release 6, 2007) gives these retention figures for alcohol, based on an analytical study of alcohol lost in food preparation:

Preparation method	Alcohol retained
Alcohol added to boiling liquid	85%
Flamed	75%
No heat, stored overnight	70%
Baked 25 minutes, not stirred into the mixture	45%
Stirred in, baked or simmered 15 minutes	40%
Stirred in, baked or simmered 30 minutes	35%
Stirred in, baked or simmered 1 hour	25%
Stirred in, baked or simmered 1.5 hours	20%
Stirred in, baked or simmered 2 hours	10%
Stirred in, baked or simmered 2.5 hours	5%

The USDA reports these factors to the nearest 5%. Wine Enthusiast explains why alcohol leaves faster than water: it boils at about 173°F, against 212°F for water. So a three-hour beef stew keeps only a small share of its alcohol, while a quick pan sauce keeps most of it.

Important: Even a long braise is not alcohol-free. If anyone at the table avoids alcohol for any reason, use one of the substitutes below instead of wine.

Substitutes for red wine

Substitute	How to use it
Broth plus vinegar	Beef, chicken or vegetable broth. For every ½ cup, stir in ½ teaspoon of red wine vinegar just before serving (America’s Test Kitchen).
Red vermouth	Sweeter than red wine. In America’s Test Kitchen’s trials, a pot roast and a pan-seared steak made with it were slightly sweeter but acceptable; a few drops of lemon juice or red wine vinegar help.
Broth alone	Fine for deglazing in a pinch, according to Wine Enthusiast.

Buying and storing cooking wine

America’s Test Kitchen recommends box wine for cooking, because the bag inside collapses as you pour and keeps air out; Dr. Vinny says a refrigerated box can last a month or so once opened. Our best box wine list includes dry reds. An open bottle of red keeps about three to five days, recorked in the fridge, according to Dr. Vinny; see how long wine lasts after opening. For leftovers, America’s Test Kitchen freezes 1 tablespoon of wine per ice cube well and stores the cubes in a zipper-lock bag, ready for the next sauce.