When cooking with white wine, does it matter if you use a dry or sweet one?

Answer 1

Yes -- the flavor (and sweetness) of the wine will affect the finished product.

However, there are a lot of other things to consider. One of our favorite desserts is pears poached in red wine; it starts with a dry red wine but then you add sugar and cinnamon, so by the time the pears are done simmering in it, the syrup is quite sweet (and delicious!). So you CAN start a dessert with a dry wine and add sugar to make up the difference.

If you're cooking something that calls for a dry wine, though -- let's say poached halibut -- a really sweet wine might take your dish in the wrong direction altogether. For poached halibut, you'd be better off using a pinot grigio, a sauvignon blanc or a light chardonnay than using a gewurtztraminer, a viognier or a Johannisberg riesling. (...Viognier might be an exception; it's a flowery/fruity white wine but not really sweet.)

And admittedly, halibut poached in white wine is a really extreme example, because halibut has a very delicate flavor and you use a LOT of wine in it -- you pretty much cover the fish with the wine and simmer it slowly to absorb the wine's flavor. So if you use a really sweet wine, the fish will taste like it's been cooked in Karo syrup. Eurgh.

Conversely, if you are adding a few tablespoons of white wine to a highly flavored sauce -- oh, let's say a curried crab sauce to be served over pasta -- it's not going to make as much difference whether you use something bone-dry or something fairly sweet. In fact, a riesling or a gewurz would probably be very good in curried crab sauce, as would a pinot blanc or similar dry white.

So the real answer is: Think about the food you're cooking. How much wine is going in? How strong are the flavors of the other ingredients? How much of a contribution is the wine going to make to the finished product? If you can learn to imagine, in advance, how a combination of ingredients is going to taste, you're halfway to being a great cook.

Answer 2

I think it depends on your taste. If you like drinking the wine on its own, why not cook with it too? I don't think a sweet wine is quite sweet enough to make your dish taste like it's had sugar added to it.

Answer 3

Most recipes assume a dry white wine.

If you use a sweet one you are adding sugar to the recipe, so compensate if you can

Answer 4

i judge a cooking wine by how it tastes. If it's not good enough to drink , it's not good enough to cook with.

Answer 5

i really prefer dry...if u use sweet i think it will mix the flavor..dry is better:D