Edit History

14 hours ago, liuzhou said:

A number of renowned chefs and food professionals have spoke out against the 'only cook with wine you'd drink' mantra.

 

Should You Really Only Cook With Wine You'd Drink? (seriouseats.com)

 

I would also note that salted wine is mainly a North American thing, not universal. It seems to be a result of licencing laws in some territories and is done to make it undrinkable so that it can be sold in unlicensed premises.

I read the article you linked and found no comments from renowned chefs, just a series of "experiments" from Daniel Gritzer from Serious Eats.  Over the years, I've found a number of such tests and comparisons from Gritzer to be flawed in some way. One example was a test he did on the Vitamix blender. He attempted to warm/heat a liquid in the blender, didn't follow Vitamix's instructions, and concluded that the machine was not capable in that regard. I followed his instructions for a particular tomato sauce and was very disappointed in the result, but that could just be me.

The wine that @Susanwusan mentioned in her original post is from the UK. As you noted, it was made to be undrinkable. Reading the ingredient list of the wines showed it to be a very poor choice for cooking, especially for the dish Susanwusan was planning to make.

When people say to only use wine that you'd drink, it means, at least in part, that salted, fortified, or adulterated wines might best be left out of your recipes. Even Gritzer, the renowned chef and food professional, says:

The "wine product" is disgusting stuff, and, as you can probably imagine, made a rendition of coq au vin that couldn't be less appealing, creating a braise with a fake fruity flavor that didn't even hint of tasting like wine.

Gritzer also says: 

Bad wine can be good to cook with: At least sometimes, flawed wines can produce good results through the transformational power of cooking, but proceed at your own risk because good results aren't guaranteed.

You pays your money and you takes your choice ... Mark Twain taking his cue from Punch magazine.

14 hours ago, liuzhou said:

A number of renowned chefs and food professionals have spoke out against the 'only cook with wine you'd drink' mantra.

 

Should You Really Only Cook With Wine You'd Drink? (seriouseats.com)

 

I would also note that salted wine is mainly a North American thing, not universal. It seems to be a result of licencing laws in some territories and is done to make it undrinkable so that it can be sold in unlicensed premises.

I read the article you linked and found no comments from renowned chefs, just a series of "experiments" from Daniel Gritzer from Serious Eats.  Over the years, I've found a number of such tests and comparisons from Gritzer to be flawed in some way. One example was a test he did on the Vitamix blender. He attempted to warm/heat a liquid in the blender, didn't follow Vitamix's instructions, and concluded that the machine was not capable in that regard. I followed his instructions for a particular tomato sauce and was very disappointed in the result, but that could just be me.

The wine that @Susanwusan mentioned in her original post is from the UK. As you noted, it was made to be undrinkable. Reading the ingredient list of the wines showed it to be a very poor choice for cooking, especially for the dish Susanwusan was planning to make.

When people say to only use wine that you'd drink, it means, at least in part, that salted, fortified, or adulterated wines might best be left out of your recipes. Even Gritzer, the renowned chef and food professional, says:

The "wine product" is disgusting stuff, and, as you can probably imagine, made a rendition of coq au vin that couldn't be less appealing, creating a braise with a fake fruity flavor that didn't even hint of tasting like wine.

Gritzer also says: 

Bad wine can be good to cook with: At least sometimes, flawed wines can produce good results through the transformational power of cooking, but proceed at your own risk because good results aren't guaranteed.

You pays your money and you takes your choice ... Mark Twain taking his cue from an article in Punch magazine.