Your Guide To Braising With Wine

photo courtesy Le Coucou

The best wines for slow cooked dishes, and what to pair with them

Think of braising as the original set-it-and-forget-it style of cooking. It was popular long before we were filling our Crock Pot with ingredients before work or, in modern times, coaxing out flavor in a fraction of those hours with our Instant Pot after we got home from a hectic day. The braising process is simple: season and sear meat or poultry, add a liquid (we’re partial to wine, naturally) and whatever other vegetables, herbs or accoutrements and allow the mixture to happily simmer unattended while you sit by the fire. This is ideally done sipping a glass of the same wine you cooked with, because after all, you should never cook with something you wouldn’t want to drink! An hour or two later you’re rewarded with fall-off-the-bone tenderness and rich, deep flavor.

Here is some inspiration for braised dishes, and what to cook and drink with them.

Consider the kind of protein you’ll be cooking.

The style of wine you’ll want to uncork and pour into that pot is influenced by the type of meat that’s getting a dunk in there too, says Master Sommelier Fred Dexheimer. “With darker meats like lamb [and] beef I tend to go with red wines which are full-bodied but with softer tannins,” he says. “The tenderness that braising creates really calls for a softer wine like an Argentinian malbec or Australian shiraz.” He also likes carmenère with lamb because its spiciness plays off the meat’s gamey and herbaceous quality.

Match the intensity of the dish with the intensity of the wine.

“Something too delicate will get buried by intense flavors that come from fat or spice, so just be sure your wine is big enough, or conversely, delicate enough,” suggests Charles Puglia, beverage director at Le Coucou in New York. “Also consider the vegetable or grain accompaniments that will be served with the dish and the type of seasoning used to spice the braise.”

wines to try:

●      2017 Irvine Wines The Estate Shiraz ($31), with tinges of berry, plum, herbs and black pepper spice. This wine won a bronze medal in the 2019 NY International Wine Competition.

●      2016 Alamos Malbec Selección ($15), a full-bodied wine with dark fruits, violet, black pepper and baking spices. This wine won a gold medal in the 2019 NY International Wine Competition.

Don’t underestimate the power of herbs...

“Depending on the dish, thyme and rosemary can add an herbaceous complexity that might not be identifiable to someone who doesn’t know it’s in [there], but I love both,” says John Drewniany, beverage manager at Cote restaurant in New York. “Also bay leaves—the earthiness they offer is imperative.” Jacopo Maniaci, general manager of Siclian winery Tenuta di Fessina, agrees, pointing out how intrinsically linked herbs are to Mediterranean culture. “I love the slow infusions of rosemary, oregano, wild fennel and sage especially on vintage reds.” Herb-forward dishes call for young or mature reds with similar aromas—think Etna Rosso, or younger vintages featuring the varietals carignan, sangiovese, tempranillo, nebbiolo and/or syrah.

wines to try:

●      2017 Delia Tempranillo ($10), a Spanish red from Castilla with aromas of plum, red cherries and cocoa on the finish; a great house red to keep on hand in the cooler months. This wine won a bronze medal in the 2019 NY International Wine Competition.

●      2017 Braxton Hall Central Coast Syrah ($21), a layered syrah with spice, dark fruit, dried herbs and structured tannins. Braxton Hall was Central Coast Syrah Winery of the Year at the 2019 NYIWC.

photo by Charles via Unsplash

And don’t forget the spices…

If your braised dish has some heat from chile peppers, steer clear of wines with a high alcohol content or pronounced acidity, suggests Puglia, as both can exacerbate the burn. “Pairing a lower alcohol wine, possibly with a bit of sweetness, can do the trick.” Dishes like tagines or Asian short ribs braised with sweeter spices including cinnamon or star anise go well with fruity wines like a grenache-dominant blend from the southern Rhône Valley.

Try:

●      2015 Grandes Vinos Aragon Garnacha ($16), a blend of grenache and carignan from Northern Spain with hints of berry and balanced acidity. This wine won a gold medal at the 2019 NYIWC.

●      2017 Wagner Vineyards Semi-Dry Riesling ($15), with a great balance of intense peaches, acidity and sweetness. This wine won a silver medal in the 2019 NYIWC.

Yes, you can make delicious braised vegetarian dishes and pair them with wine.

Hearty root vegetables are all over market stalls at this time of year, and they take well to the long cooking method of braising. Dexheimer is partial to the richness and texture grüner veltliner to sip with these dishes. “They have a little tone of lentil or snap pea—a vegetal tone—but they also have a body that can match the complexity of the braise.” Loire Valley whites like Chenin, Vouvray or Anjou will go nicely with parsnips, carrots and potatoes says Drewniany, while Puglia points to the lack of tannins and potential residual sugar of Alsacian whites as winners with root veggies.

●      2018 KG Domaine Baumgartner Grüner Veltliner ($19), a stellar Austrian white that’s refreshing and citrusy with stone fruit including pear. This wine won a silver medal in the 2019 NY International Wine Competition.

photo by Fran Hogan via Unsplash

●     2018 Domaine du Petit Clocher Anjou ($20), a full-bodied wine with apple and pear aromas and a weighty palate.

Add a few can’t-fail braised dish and wine pairings to keep in rotation.

●      Short ribs braised in red wine with 2015 Achaval Ferrer Quimera ($40), a blend of malbec, cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc from Mendoza. “[It] has enough body to work with a heavier, complex sauce but is still soft enough to match the tenderness of those well-rendered short ribs,” Dexheimer says.

●      Chicken braised with red wine, soy sauce, brown sugar and ginger with 2017 Hahn Lucienne Doctor’s Vineyard ($50). “This is a forward-style California pinot noir that has weight and density but also freshness, acidity, and oak spice that will pair with the soy and brown sugar,” Dexheimer says.

●      Filet mignon and oxtail boulangerie with 2016 Château Lassègue ($60), “a richer-style Saint Emilion [that’s] a classic pairing,” Puglia believes, with notes of plum, black cherry and cassis, and a subtle minerality that plays off the coffee bean aromas in the finish.

●      Apple cider-braised short ribs with the 2006 Domaine Henri Milan Les Clos Red ($60) from Provence, a blend of grenache, syrah and mourvèdre Drewniany calls “fruit-forward, savory, spicy—perfect for pairing!”

●      Braised rabbit with wild herbs and lemon zest with 2017 Tenuta di Fessina A’Puddara ($65.99), a 100% carricante from Sicily. “The balance between the braising and the acidity and freshness is something I relish,” Maniaci says.

●      Vegetables braised with chicken broth reduction and toasted almonds with 2017 Tenuta di Fessina Erse Bianco ($24.99), with notes of flint and herbaceousness, high acid, and a saline finish.“