I would normally use a cheap Taylor burgundy or port for this recipe, but the local store is out of both. What other deep red wines could I use?
I usually use pinot noir. Combined with the beef stock and the essence of the beef and bacon and vegetables it makes for a full, rich broth.
Any Pinot Noir, Beaujolais or Merlot should be good. I wouldn’t spend more than $15/bottle.
Port would be too sweet to my taste in this recipe.
LOL! the ones I usually get are about $7.
Thanks for the recommendations! I know squat about wine outside the few I’m accustomed to cooking with.
I’ve never been a wine drinker and I only ever use it for cooking, but this sounds like sound advice. You don’t want to use a wine that’s too cheap (Carlo Rossi, looking in your direction), and anything more expensive than that would be a waste. Cooking wine is useful if you only need a little bit of wine for a recipe, since the added salt means it’ll keep in the bottle and not turn sour, but if I’m making bourguignon I’m pouring the whole bottle in there, so may as well use drinking wine.
My go-tos are Rex Goliath and Chateau Ste. Michelle, which tend to be around $10 for a bottle at the store I work at.
I admit to being a little surprised by the question. I assumed it was asking “what wine to drink with boeuf bourguignon” since the name itself tells you it’s cooked with a Burgundy wine.
(If you want to get really technical, “à la Bourguignonne” has, for the last two hundred years or so, been a French culinary term which basically means “cooked with wine, with mushrooms in the sauce.” It doesn’t mean the dish originates from the region; it’s more likely to be from elsewhere in France, almost certainly Parisian, arising from a tradition of importing and freely interpreting regional dishes, or simply creating dishes from scratch using regional products.)
With that in mind, I agree with the general tenor of the thread. You want a rich-and-dry-but-not-too-tannic wine that will contribute a background flavor and help break down the meat while not overpowering the dish in other ways. Red Burgundy (aka vin de Bourgogne or more specifically Bourgogne rouge) is perfect for this. Pinot noir is the same as red Burgundy, incidentally; French wines are named for their geographical origin, while American wines are named for the grape. By law, if a French wine is labeled as a red Burgundy, it must be made in the Burgundy region, using mostly or exclusively Pinot noir grapes. For this recipe, any Pinot noir from Oregon or Washington in the $10-15 price range will be a good choice.
In the very unlikely event you can’t get an American Pinot noir, you can substitute other wines. Your suggestion of Port is way off base for me; whether tawny or ruby, these will be sweet with other funky non-complementary flavors. (Note that Port and mushrooms can go together nicely, but only when making a strong and concentrated sauce to be drizzled over something savory as the star of the dish.) Likewise, I wouldn’t use an American Cabernet Sauvignon (they tend to be more tannic than is appropriate for this dish) or a French Beaujolais (geographically, it’s a neighbor to Burgundy, but the wine will be too light and won’t contribute much). However, I might consider a French Bordeaux. Red wines from this region are typically made with a blend of grapes, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and others; it’s uncommon for a Bordeaux to be made with a single grape, per the American style. I would check the label— if it’s Cab-Sauv forward, I’d skip it for the same reason as just mentioned. But if Merlot is a major component in the blend, then it’s a good candidate.
And that brings up California Merlots, which would also be a decent option. I would check the label and pick the one that’s lowest in alcohol, as this is likely to minimize the overt fruity-jam quality that sets Merlot apart from Pinot noir. If I were forced to work with whatever’s in someone’s wine fridge and they somehow didn’t have one of the foregoing substitutions, I would grit my teeth and check for a red Zinfandel or a Chianti Classico; both of these tend to be bolder than a Pinot noir, but should cook down acceptably in the stew. For the record, my actual top pick for a red Burgundy substitute in this context would be a Côtes du Rhône, but if you’re in a situation where you can’t get one of the preceding wines, then you’re very unlikely to have access to a Côtes du Rhône either.
As for the question of what to drink with it, you should choose the exact same type of wine as was used in the cooking, but double the price point. For example, if you cooked the stew with a Pinot noir, using Bogle or Yellowtail*, then I would pour a Pinot noir from Argyle or Elk Cove, or the equivalent.
*Yellowtail Pinot noir is undrinkable by itself, but is perfectly adequate to keep around for cooking purposes in dishes like this.
Max Miller just put out a pretty good video on the history of bourguignon on his Tasting History channel on Youtube. It includes a 19th century version which was meant to be used as a sauce for dressing leftover meat.
Personally, when I cook it, I use Julia Child’s recipe as my base, except that I chop my meat up into bite-size chunks so I can serve it as a stew.
No additional advice because what’s above is excellent, but rather than keeping cooking wine of any sort around, I prefer to always have a couple of Bota Mini’s around (normally Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc). 500mL containers are consistently on sale for $4.00 each, so it’s 2/3 the volume of a normal 750mL bottle at less than half the price.
Not I don’t say it’s a great option for wine, but the price is good for something you can keep around for a few months (unopened), and since I don’t drink the rest, a smaller serving is better for my cooking purposes.
It’s not terrible win either, and a huge step up (just not having to recalculate the seasoning/salt in a dish is huge) from cooking wine, with low prices, and easy use.
And for those with smaller kitchens, it takes up a LOT less space than having bottles ready at hand for cooking when you’re inspired to make a dish without going back out!
Use Pinot Noir and marinate the meat in it for 24 hours as per Nagi’s recipe at recipetineats the most reliable recipe site that I know. I have made this one with great success.
She says:
- Pinot noir – Beef Bourguignon is also known as Beef Burgundy, and thus the wine called for is a Pinot Noir – the most famous variety of wine produced in the Burgundy region of France.
Using a lighter style wine might sound unexpected for a hearty stew, but the more delicate flavour compared to bolder wines like Shiraz makes it ideal for using as a marinade so the red wine flavour doesn’t overwhelm the natural beef flavour.
We’re using a whole bottle here. Sorry folks, you’ll need another bottle for drinking!
Thank you everyone for fighting my ignorance. It’s been a challenge since the tariffs to figure out what the American-born equivalent is for all the wines I’m accustomed to buying. I’ve added Pinot Noir to the shopping list.
I can’t resist the W C Fields quote:
“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.”
But seriously… port? That’s very much a fortified wine with a definitely different flavor of its own; certainly not traditional for a bourguinon. As others have said, it’s not really critical. Any merlot or cabernet would work fine.
I am surprised by how surprised everyone is by this. I use a bottle of cheap, deep red, port every time I make a beef stew or soup. It’s a delicious addition, and cooks down nicely. Over the years if I started to make a Bourguignon and discovered I was out of Burgundy, I grabbed the port and got on with my task. It’s delicious. Maybe not Bourguignon exactly, but delicious.
And to repeat the OP, my local supermarket doesn’t have either red port or Burgundy at a price I’m willing to pay right now. Their supply lines for both have been deeply fargled for the last 10-12 months.
I can see it working with dishes that have long cooking times and strong enough flavors to stand up to all that brandy and alcohol, but I never would have thought of it!
How sweet does it end up versus a similar dish made with wine instead?
As I mentioned in my post, one can certainly cook with Port:
I just don’t think it’s a good fit for what boeuf bourguignon is supposed to be. However, I looked up the Taylor burgundy you originally mentioned, since I’ve never had it, and found most reviewers noted its unusual sweetness compared to typical Pinot noirs. So it’s possible that’s just your palate, which is why you don’t notice the sweet quality of the Port. If that’s true, then a stew made with a more “typical” burgundy/Pinot noir may hit your tongue a little drier than you’re used to. In that case, I’d suggest reducing the amount of wine by, say, a quarter cup, and swapping in a decent balsamic vinegar. This is heresy for the classic dish, but it may balance it back up toward your apparent preference.
(Also, I inspired myself with the side comment above, so I’m making a braised chicken with a Port-and-mushroom reduction for dinner tonight.)
FWIW, in her recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon, Julia Child says:
3 cups of a full-bodied, young red wine such as one of those suggested for serving, or a Chianti
On the previous page, she lists the following for wines to be served with the dish:
Serve with the beef a fairly full-bodied, young red wine , such as Beaujolais, Cotes de Rhone, Bordeaux-St. Emilion, or Burgundy.
Cotes de Rhone is a blend of primarily Grenache, with some Syrah/Shiraz and Mourvedre, Bordeaux-St. Emilion is a blend of primarily Merlot, with Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon as well, Beaujolais is primarily Gamay, and Burgundy is primarily Pinot Noir.
So at the grocery store, I’d look at merlots, pinot noirs, and if you can find some, maybe some Bordeaux style blends (typically labeled as “Meritage” wines). I’d think Shiraz might be a bit on the intense side for the dish.
You might be able to find Beaujolais Noveau right now for not much money, but you’re unlikely to find US attempts at the Beaujolais or Cotes de Rhone styles.
I got in the habit of keeping chianti for a general purpose cooking red but would probably hold off until I could find an affordable Burgundy or pinot for this cook.
I guess since you’re limited to this one store that already doesn’t have port, it might be easier to tell us what they do have left and within your budget. It sounds like it will be a short list.
Agreed. The PNW produces really good reds at reasonable prices.
My cooking tip: if you have leftover wine from cooking or drinking, measure it into 1/2 cup portions and stick it in the freezer. We have a little freezer tray with a lid like this, but you can use little ziplocs. Pop one (or more) out next time you’re cooking.
I will generally use a sweeter “two buck chuck” (or the equivalent nowadays generally 7-8 buck chuck is the best you’ll do 
), and it works well for this kind of dish
It’s an idea that just never occurred to me.
Simply a departure from older tradition, since port is a fortified wine, not a standard red.
It might work very well.. perhaps I’ll try it.