Long... and EXPENSIVE. Do you really have to use four (one was used in the original concoction) bottles of wine? Wow.

Yep. The whole point is the wine reduced to syrup. And since it's a reduction, the quality of the wine matters.

It tastes as good as you would expect for the price ;) It's long for something that disappears in the blink of an eye but it is not comparable to a red wine jus. You must have local wines that you can use to make the price reasonable that compare well in flavour. i've certainly drained quite a few bottles of American wine with great pleasure!

I will add that I've only made this once!

I hear ya, but could it be two bottles of wine, using half each time?

Sure. You just get half as much sauce.

We have a lot of palatable, inexpensive wine in California. I don't hesitate to put a bottle of white Two Buck Chuck (though it costs $2.49 now) over a turkey, or red in a stew. It's made from wine lake, I believe, and blended to taste good, in a grape juicy kind of way. For a Bordelaise sauce (which I admit is on my once is enough list of cooking ventures), where you have so much concentration of flavors, I'd want a much better wine to start with. No need for the "real thing" from France, but, still, a better quality wine, though not highly tannic.

Rob, I can't remember about your state. Is it one of those places where they tax the heck out of alcohol?

Thanks for the answer! I also have to keep in mind to keep portion sizes smaller since it's just me or me and the kid.

I have no idea if we tax it heavily, but I wouldn't doubt. Doesn't bother me though since the cost of living is so low here. Tennessee is a great place to buy things.

Plllog's quite right. Just make sure it's a fairly light red.

It's hard to tell quality by price, but it can give you a starting place. We have excise tax in CA, but it's pretty low. Including excise, I'd want to use a $20 wine.

Mimipadv, there is no shortcut to luscious, glorious Bordelaise. If you want an easier, cheaper, different sauce, you can do a plain red wine reduction. Again, a wine low in tannins, but it could be in the CA $10-15 range and still be okay. Combine one bottle of wine and about half as much stock in a sauce pan, and simmer at just enough temperature to evaporate. Don't boil. Stir regularly. Make about a cup and a half of reduction.

You can supplement the flavor with any seasonings and herbs you like but keep in mind that you're reducing and concentrating the flavors. You can also sauté shallots, onions or leeks, mushrooms, or mirepoix in the fat of your choice, and about twice as much of the same wine (or port), and cook it down until it's nearly dry. Add to the almost finished wine reduction and let it simmer away for awhile longer. Strain out the solids.

Mind you, this is not "fine cooking". It's slapdash, and not necessarily reproducible. Should taste good, however.

If I had to pay $20 for a bottle of decent wine I think I'd become tee total! Here, I can get a decent bottle for the equivalent of about $4 and an excellent one for $6 so a sauce like this isn't so scandalous!

T&T is legit.

Mimipadv, did you make your sauce? Did you make your roast? How was it/they?

IC, we can get drinkable wine for that kind of price, but I think the saying is that good wine is cheaper in France, but more of the cheap wine here is better. Or something like that. We also have drinkable wines under $10. There is a surge in quality around the $15 mark, here, though, and I do notice the difference in a highly reduced sauce. I usually only cook with $20 wine when it was opened for company and not imbibed, but I'd do it if I were making a true Bordelaise. :) Other than Two Buck Chuck, I usually get for wines I cook with that are priced around $7-8, but buy on special sales. My friends who are really into wine usually get them around the $40 mark for casual occasions and new tires' worth for special. I can taste the difference while sipping, at least up to the $40 level, but it gets lost when taken with a very flavorful meal, and by the second glass. :)

But then I was visiting the Midwest, many years ago, and having a soiree. There isn't a big tax bump in that state, but what they wanted for a decent California wine at the major chain supermarket was three times what it would be here. To which I said, "Not without the sommelier!" and bought a single bottle of an acceptable (though not as good) wine that was on "special" for about what I thought it should cost with some added for shipping. It would have been about $17 in today's money. Below that, they only had rotgut.

As of last year, Federal and Calif. excise taxes (included in the price, whereas sales tax is added to the posted price) are $1.27/gallon (3785.41 ml), so negligible, about a quarter (25¢) per bottle. State tax in TN is $1.27, and with the Federal of $1.07, a total of $2.34/gal.

Still, as I said before, the price is just a ballpark indicator. There are some amazing good finds for $6 and there are some just awful vintages for $80.

Yes, Mimipadv, did you try it?