Five Tips for Cooking with Wine

If you’re as much a lover of the kitchen as you are fine wine, you’re in luck. This week the Ideal Wine Company reveals five tips for cooking with wine.

The Versatility of Wine

Through crafting a reputation as a provider of excellent fine wines at prices true wine enthusiasts can actually afford, we have learned of the versatility of our product. You can drink it, invest in it, collect it, turn it into a cocktail etc.

You can also cook with it. Cooking with wine is actually a pretty popular pastime. You can use it to craft mouth-watering dishes such as Coq Au Vin. Even better, when you pair a wine with a dish you’ve used wine with, you end up with an experience which will blow your tastes buds away.

Use These Five Tips to Master the Art of Cooking With Wine

Despite the fact that the way you do it often depends on the dish, there are common tips you can use whenever you cook with wine to get it right. Here are five we would suggest:

1. Don’t Cook With Something You Wouldn’t Drink: Since the heating process burns the alcohol off, it’s the flavours of the wine that you are bringing to the dish. That is why you should only ever cook with wines you would drink. If you don’t, you’ll bring flavours you don’t find appealing to the dish.
2. Match the Wine to the Flavour: Certain wines go with certain foods, and choosing contrasting flavours will only ruin the dish. If you’re cooking fish, for example, for heaven’s sake don’t use a rose.
3. Pour in Slowly: Cooking with wine really is a balancing act.  Get the balance wrong, and you’ll throw the composition of the dish off. That is why whatever you’re making or using, you need to pour the wine in slowly.
4. Taste and Stir: To ensure you are getting the balance right, stir it in gently with a wooden spoon as you pour, then taste to keep track of the balance. There’s no substitute when it comes to cooking with wine, for experience! Tasting is also useful for determining the quality of the wine before you cook it.
5. Watch the Temperature: When wine hits a temperature of 70 degrees, it starts cooking. However if it hits 80 degrees, you can cook it too much, robbing it of some of the flavour you want to infuse into your dish. That is why you should keep a careful eye on temperature whenever you cook with wine.

Now it’s Time to Get Specific

From there, it’s time to get specific. Depending on the type of dish you are cooking, there are different ways to go about things. However these five tips should get you well on your way to crafting a mouth-watering dish by cooking with wine!

The Growing Number of UK Wine Producers

New figures have suggested that the number of UK wine producers is growing, leading the Ideal Wine Company this week to explore the country’s burgeoning wine scene.

The Emerging UK Wine Scene

As a provider of fine wines from around the world at reasonable prices, Ideal Wine Company follows wine trends. We need to, in order to ensure you get the most from our service.

Over the last year or so we have been watching the emerging UK wine scene. Bottles from the British Isles are slowly, but surely, gaining a stellar reputation. This is something that is sure to continue, as the number of producers making wine in the UK grows.

UK Receives 46 New Wine Producers

According to the BBC, new research from accountants UHY Hacker Young has suggested that 46 new producers signed up with the HMRC in the year to 31^st March 2014. This means that 135 wine producers in the UK are now registered with the tax man.

The firm went on to explain the reason for this growth, as well as the fact that the number of micro-breweries has increased by 188% over the last half decade. Essentially, tax changes have helped, but the main reason is consumers. They have developed more of an interest in locally produced food and drink.

Shifting Consumer Trends

The firm’s head, Roy Maugham, went on to talk about the research. Maugham said: "Consumer interest in boutique products continues to grow. Food products such as artisan cheeses and organically reared meats, and drinks such as craft beer and artisan spirits, have been the focus of increased demand.

"Now, we're seeing the same thing in the UK's once-mocked wine industry. English wines have enjoyed a genuine renaissance over the last couple of years and are now being taken seriously on the international stage."

Making a Name for Themselves

At the Ideal Wine Company, we find this trend fascinating. UK wines may not have attained the calibre of their French, Italian or Spanish counterparts, but they certainly are making a name for themselves. It’s only a matter of time until the UK becomes a significant player on the global wine stage. 

Pop Up Luxury Wine Merchant About to Launch in London

This week, Ideal Wine Company looks at the oncoming launch of a pop up luxury wine merchant in London, and what it could mean for the diversification of the fine wine trade.

The Diversification of the Fine Wine Market

One thing that the Ideal Wine Company continues to find fascinating working as a provider of fine wines from around the globe, is the diversification of the wine industry.

New developments are coming every day, and they change the way we think about buying and consuming wine. Take the Coravin device, which we recently blogged about for example. That one small technological advancement has the capability to reimagine the way people store wine.

2,000 Fine Wines to Sample at Your Convenience

Which is why we find the news that a pop up luxury wine merchant is due to open on London’s South Banks so compelling. Called a Vinorium, the stand will feature over 2,000 fine wines to buy and sample. Furthermore, each bottle will come with a QR code, which will enable consumers to research the wine they are trying.

Meanwhile, the transparent Perspex building (constructed from two 20 foot shipping containers), will also feature wine tasting master classes. Hosted by the Vinorium’s founder Stuart McCloskey, these Bordeaux master classes will teach people how to drink wine like an expert for £50 - £150 per ticket.

The Vinorium was Nothing but a Wonderful Dream a Year Ago

McCloskey took the time to comment on the project. According to Harpers, McCloskey said that: “The Vinorium Pop-Up was all but a wonderful dream a year ago, but we have made it into a reality by transforming two 20ft shipping containers into a luxury mobile wine merchant and wine bar.”

He went on to add that “it will have an entirely bespoke interior fit made out of clear Perspex and the wine will be available to drink in or take home. We will be offering a chance for people to try some exquisite and UK exclusive wines during our masterclasses.”

The Opening Up of the Fine Wine Market

Ideal Wine Company finds this fascinating, because it illustrates the opening up of the fine wine market. The pop-up is like selling fine wine online; it’s a new way to ensure that consumers who would never before have the chance, are equipped with the opportunity to experience luxury vintages for themselves. 

Five Unusual Wine Hotspots around the World

We want to broaden your horizons this week here at the Ideal Wine Company, by alerting you to five unusual wine hotspots around the world.

The Wine Making Landscape is not as narrow as Some Would Have You Believe

As a provider of first rates fine wines from around the globe, Ideal Wine Company knows that some places have more of a reputation for viticulture than others. France for example, from where we supply a range of fine wines for reasonable prices, is one of the most renowned wine making hotspots on the planet.

But the viticulture landscape is hardly as narrow as some people would have you believe. Many countries make wine, and sometimes it’s the vintages from places you wouldn’t expect that make for a truly fantastic wine drinking experience.

Try These Five Wine Making Hotspots as you Travel the World

If you ever have the opportunity to tour the wine making centres of the globe, we suggest you head off the beaten track and take the time try vintages from the following five unusual wine making hotspots:

1. Moldova: Believe it or not, the landlocked Eastern European nation of Moldova has a big wine making industry, even having its own national wine day. It’s one of its main exports. It produces mostly red, with the famous Negru de Purcari (a red blend) proving a particular standout   
2. Macedonia: With its extremely fertile plains and classic Southern European climate, Macedonia has a strong tradition of wine making. It’s highly known for reds such as Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, but you can find some fantastic whites there as well, such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and the more rustic Zilvaka
3.  Kosovo: Kosovo is a wine making region on the rise, with many arguing that it’s wants to be the next Napa Valley. Its whites are fantastic, with its table whites a particular highlight, which is probably why Kosovar table white wine has been so popular in Germany in recent years.
4. Montenegro: Despite the fact that Montenegro is a particularly mountainous country, it has developed a hearty wine making tradition that is fast becoming one of Eastern Europe’s most notable. It’s famous for its indigenous Vranac grape, which when processed makes for a killer dry red.
5. Hungary: Hungary has the perfect climate for wine making and has a history of producing stellar vintages that delight at every turn. We feature one of its finest bottles, the Tokaji, on the Ideal Wine Company product list.

You Learn Something at Each New Unusual Wine Making Hotspot

But don’t stop there. One you’ve done Europe, why not travel further from home and try the unusual wine hotspots of Asia, Africa or the Americas. Each time you will learn something new, which will remind you why you fell in love with wine in the first place.