That wine will be fine in cooking. It will not have that "dryness" at the end, if I understand what you are describing.

More importantly, if I am guessing correctly, that "dryness" is actually the astringent flavor of tannins, which will mellow out with age and gives good red wines their longevity. Long aging creates complex flavors, so it's a good thing. You might want to set a few bottles aside.

Jim

I'm no oenophile but it sounds like you'll have a delightful reduction for beef using a cab sav. Save some to taste with dinner! Enjoy :)

No Sands, blech, we tried it with dinner..tonight..LOL it's so dry. We didn't like it. Into the fridge it goes.

Thanks Jim, that's what I was hoping, that it would make a great sauce.

Also....opening it up....pouring it back and forth between 2 glasses or decanting it into a wide carafe will make a huge difference in the "softness" of the wine....if heavy tannin is what you don't like.
Linda C

Got any furniture you need to refinish?

You could also make sangria...with some sugar, fruit (oranges, strawberries, peaches, etc.) and Grand Marnier the wine might be more palatable!

seagrass

Terri,

We are not wine drinkers either nor are my other family members. I had a birthday party a couple weeks ago & served this Cioppino. I sent DH to the store for a bottle of "decent" wine for the recipe. He returned with Cabernet Sauvignon.

Everybody raved about the flavor & aroma plus there was none left so it must have been good.

I doubled the recipe & used the entire bottle of wine knowing nobody around here would drink the small bit leftover.

I don't know where I got the recipe...it may be from somebody here??? Anyway, if you want to prepare a 'feast'...this stuff is great!

CIOPPINO

¼ Cup Olive Oil
2 Onions, Chopped Small
4 Cloves Garlic, Minced
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 Teaspoon Oregano
1-1/2 Teaspoons Salt
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1-1/2 Cups Good Quality Red Wine (Trinchero Family Cabernet Sauvignon)
1 Cup Chicken Broth
1 Cup Fish Stock
1 28 Ounce Can of Whole Plum Tomatoes, juice reserved
12 Clams (Quahogs)
¾ Pound Shrimp, Peeled, De-veined but with the tail left on
1 Pound Sea Scallops
1-1/2 Pounds Alaskan King Crab, in shell & Cut into 2"-3" Pieces
1 Pound Snapper, Cut Into 2" Pieces
Basil, One Good-Sized Bunch, cut into a Chiffinade
Lemon Slices, Garnish

In the olive oil, sauté the onions with the oregano, salt, pepper, & red pepper flakes for about 5 minutes or until onions are nicely wilted. Add garlic & sauté another minute. Then, stir in the tomato paste. Add the red wine & simmer until reduced by about half (about 5-7 minutes over medium heat).

Add the chicken broth, fish stock, & tomatoes plus the reserved juices. Crush the tomatoes with a wooden spoon. Simmer for 30 minutes. After simmering, the broth may be refrigerated & reheated to continue finishing the dish & cooking the seafood.

Bring the broth to a strong simmer & add the crab and clams. Cover & cook for 5-10 minutes. After 5 minutes start checking to see if the clams have opened. Discard any clams that haven't opened after 10 minutes. After 10 minutes of simmering, remove the clams & crab with a slotted spoon to a bowl.

Put the shrimp, scallops, & snapper into the broth, cover & simmer for about 5 minutes. Return crab & clams to the stock pot, stir & simmer for another 2 minutes.

Pour into large serving bowl & top with the basil chiffinade. Garnish with the lemon slices.

Serve with warm sourdough bread & a salad. I used Ina's Green Goddess Dressing on the salad garnished with roasted halved Plum Tomatoes that I'd sprinkled with olive oil & S/P.

{{gwi:1523209}}

/tricia

Nancy and san provided two great red wine reduction recipes for me recently. Both are excellent.

Filet with a Merlot Sauce - Nancy

Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes Ready In: 1 Hour 45 Minutes
Yields: 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1 (750 milliliter) bottle Merlot NOTE: I used Cabernet/Suav
wine
2 (14.5 ounce) cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can beef broth
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon olive oil
6 (6 ounce) fillets beef tenderloin
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon fresh thyme

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a heavy sauce pan over high heat, combine wine, chicken broth and beef broth. Bring to a boil, and cook until mixture is reduced to 2 cups, about an hour. (This can be prepared a day ahead - cover and refrigerate).
2. In a small bowl, mix butter and flour. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle steaks with salt and pepper, and saute until medium-rare, about 4 minutes per side. Transfer steaks to a plate.
3. Stir shallots, garlic and thyme into skillet. Add 2 cups reduced wine mixture to skillet. Bring mixture to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Whisk in butter mixture until smooth. Boil sauce until thick enough to coat a spoon, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Shiitake Red Wine Sauce (Weed via san)

2 Tb. butter
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/3 cup finely chopped shallots
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
6 small (half dollar sized) shiitake mushrooms, sliced (Or mushroom of your choice)NOTE: I used white
2 tsp. flour
2 c. beef broth*
3/4 c. dry red wine
salt & pepper
(water - if needed)

Sauté shallots, mushrooms, garlic and thyme in butter until tender.
Add flour, sauté 1 minute
Add broth and wine, stirring while adding.
Gently boil until sauce thickens and is reduced to 1 cup.
Season with salt and pepper *after* reducing.
If it gets too thick, just add a bit of water.

Thanks everyone..the recipes sound great!!!!

I do not like wine. There, I said it. I know that makes me sound like some sort of uncultured idiot, but I hate the stuff. However, I love cooking with it. So, obviously, in my case, it's entirely possible to take some disgusting wine (since I think all of it is pretty disgusting) and use it in a recipe. :) I just think about it like soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, or olive oil. Some aren't good enough to use in a recipe, and some are. You'll still never find me drinking a glass of any of them.

Terri, it sounds like the wine you had was either too young, not "aired" enough, or both.

A wine that gives you that feeling of the back of your tongue curling over sandpaper can sometimes be made drinkable by allowing the air to get to it. Pulling the cork and leaving it to sit on the table for an hour won't do it. The reason that traditional wine decanters have such a wide bottom is that it allows for a greater surface connection between the wine and the air. If you don't have a decanter, you're better off pouring the wine into glasses and letting it sit for an hour or two, as the wine will get more exposure to the air that way.

Anyway, nowadays, Cabernet can be prohibitively expensive in terms of getting a wine aged long enough for those tannins to have mellowed. You're better off with a Zinfandel, or a Syrah (Shiraz if it's from Australia) if you want a big, bold red wine that's drinkable before it costs $40.

Make Sangria!

This is AnnT's recipe and it is WONDERFUL! I guarantee you will love this!

Spanish Sangria
Source: Barbara Hansen's Mexican Cookery (1981)

1 bottle, dry full bodied red wine
2 tablespoon orange liqueur (Grand Marnier)
1/3 cup of simple syrup
1 lime thinly sliced
1 orange thinly sliced
1 lemon thinly sliced
Juice of one orange
1 cup club soda

Combined wine, syrup, liqueur, and orange juice and stir. Add sliced fruit and just before serving add the soda water.

Do not let the fruit slices sit in the Sangria for more than one hour before serving as the peels can cause the drink to be bitter.

Simple Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Bring water and sugar to a boil and simmer until liquid is clear and the sugar has dissolved. Pour in to jar and refrigerate. Keep for 3 weeks.

I don't like Cabernet for drinking but I love it in cooking.

Thanks for all the great info!

I've NEVER had Sangria..but I could certainly give that a whirl too.