White cooking wines

[Ellyn]

I'm planning to make macaroni and fondue cheese one of these days.

What wines would you recommend using? I'm a fan of Carlo Rossi, but I wasn't sure if just any white wines from them or anyone is necessarily okay to use for cooking, and I just thought I'd check here about what might be out there that pairs well with cheese.

 

[Ellyn]

I'm just bumping up this topic to add that, among those I know who make cheese fondue, any very dry white wine will do. Here's a neat article I found about the general dryness of wines, and Carlo Rossi does make Chardonnay but, unlike with their sangria, doesn't seem to package them in little souvenir bottles--which I was so hoping them would, and was probably the reason why I was looking forward to getting something in that brand, because I don't usually straight-up drink wines and boozes (anymore.)

 

[OhioTom76]

The "two buck chuck" wine you can get at Trader Joes is great for cooking. I don't make fondues with it, but I do add their Chardonnay into my pasta sauces regularly, and they come out great. I don't like using expensive wines in cooking often because they typically have too distinct of a flavor that may not pair well with the food. I wouldn't want something with a really noticeable floral scent or a really strong scent from the wooden barrel in my recipe.

Another option that works well when cooking, is to use dry vermouth instead. It's simply a fortified dry wine. Juila Childs recommended this as well. I tried it by accident one time because I had run out of White wine, and was really impressed with the results. You can often find dry vermouth at grocery stores too, but if not, your local beer/wine joint definitely has it, and probably has it in a smaller bottle.

 

[Ellyn]

The "two buck chuck" wine you can get at Trader Joes is great for cooking. I don't make fondues with it, but I do add their Chardonnay into my pasta sauces regularly, and they come out great. I don't like using expensive wines in cooking often because they typically have too distinct of a flavor that may not pair well with the food. I wouldn't want something with a really noticeable floral scent or a really strong scent from the wooden barrel in my recipe.

Another option that works well when cooking, is to use dry vermouth instead. It's simply a fortified dry wine. Juila Childs recommended this as well. I tried it by accident one time because I had run out of White wine, and was really impressed with the results. You can often find dry vermouth at grocery stores too, but if not, your local beer/wine joint definitely has it, and probably has it in a smaller bottle.

Oh, wow, thanks so much for posting this! You make a very good point about extra notes that wouldn't be needed or preferable for a complex recipe. I hadn't even thought about vermouth!