Use for bad red wine

[CarmenR]

We had a superbowl party and are now left with about 3/4 of a bottle of delicious Yellowtail Shiraz/Grenache blend. I know it's worth aprox $5, but I HATE to throw food/beverage away based just on principle. Aside from making spaghetti sauce, does anyone have any exciting ideas for the rest of this stuff? We absolutely will not/cannot drink it...

[HillJ]

we had drunken spaghetti with some inexpensive red and parm shavings and my guests thought I was brilliant! LOL...score!

[ahuva]

Use it in a beef-braising liquid (pot roast, brisket, short ribs)

[noodlepoodle]

I recently bought a $20 bottle of Coppola claret that my DH and I felt tasted kind of off, so we just capped it and set it aside to return to Costco. It sat on the counter for a couple of weeks and I just happened to need some wine for a pot roast I was making and poured some in. It made a wonderful gravy. Normally, if someone had asked me to cook with some off-tasting wine, I would have said chuck it. So much for that.

[C. Hamster]

Don't ever cook with a wine you think tastes like crap.

So don't make a pan sauce, marinade, risotto, etc.

Don't freeze it.

Use is in something like sangria which masks its taste. Or throw it away

[latindancer]

I'm in total agreement with this.

[hambone]

C. Hamster- The whole point of the recipe is the different flavor of turned wine actually improving the taste of the chili.

Granted this is a little off the original topic BUT contrary to the general "Don't drink with wine you wouldn't drink."

[hambone]

The Silver Palate chili recipe calls for turned red wine (if you don't have that then add lemon.)

It is a great chili, fyi!

[KarenDW]

I am in the deglaze or braise camp. And definitely freeze for later use, or at least store in a small jar in the fridge.

[paulj]

Add sugar and cook it down to a syrup. You won't waste any other ingredients, and might end up with a useful glaze.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/677816#5291437
http://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/spiced-red-wine-syrup-fruit-and-ice-cream
http://www.thekitchn.com/leftover-win...

[zin1953]

Is this like the old SAT Question: Which statement doesn't belong with the rest?

a) "a bottle of delicious Yellowtail Shiraz/Grenache blend."

b) "I HATE to throw food/beverage away based just on principle."

c) "We absolutely will not/cannot drink it..."

[dave_c]

Braised short ribs using the wine.

[CarmenR]

to clarify- I was using the word "delicious" in jest. It is not delicious. I'm sure it's probably drinkable, but we don't drink a lot of red wine in our house anyway so it would be hard for us to even drink that much in general.
I failed to mention that its one of those giant bottles, so its enough to make a LOT of something. I didn't think to freeze it, thats actually a good idea.

And yes, it was brought by one of our guests who opened it and enjoyed it with a few other people. I'm not judging- i've been known to drink a few bottles of $3 chuck in my time. I just never use THIS much red wine so I thought I would look to my dear hounds for some advice. Freezing or poaching does sound lovely.

[wyogal]

I don't understand why you would want to cook with something that you don't like to begin with. You used the word "delicious" in jest, you describe it as bad. Now if it was merely the fact that you don't drink much wine, and that you thought it was O.K. to drink, but not that much, then, yes, cook with it. But if you think it's "bad," why cook with it?

[Isolda]

I know the wine of which you speak, and yes, it is nasty. However, even though it cannot be drunk, it can be used to poach pears and that's what I'd do. Use a bit more sugar than normal and maybe spice it up a bit.

Anything that requires the liberal addition of sugar (wine syrup, sangria, hot mulled wine) should make it palatable.

And to those who think I'm a snob, nope, I do drink cheap wine, but not this one. It is much worse than three-buck chuck.

[iluvcookies]

You say it's delicious, but "We absolutely will not/cannot drink it..."
I don't get it, unless "delicious" is a sarcastic descriptor.

If you don't like it in the glass, you will probably not like it in a cooked dish. No sense in throwing good money after bad.

[wyogal]

+1

[Puffin3]

Five dollars for a bottle of (cough) wine? GAAAAAAH!

[tcamp]

I gather you're not a fan of 3 buck chuck...

[prima]

Wine gets a lot worse than a Yellow Tail blend, which is the open bottle the OP is trying to use up. Didn't realize some Chowhounds were so particular. (ha ha)

By the way, a bottle of Yellow Tail Shiraz Grenache blend in Ontario, Canada, costs $11.95/bottle, if that makes a difference to the perceived value of an open bottle of wine the OP doesn't want to drink.

[Allieroseww]

Confused about how undrinkable wine ended up in your house. Did someone bring it as a gift? I'd probably be OK braising with it.

[iluvcookies]

Yellowtail is $8-9 in my neck of the woods, but I'm lucky to have an exceptional wine shop nearby that has bottles in the $10-15 range that are quite good for the money.

[prima]

Poached pears
Stews
Risotto
Greek-style calamari with wine sauce:
http://www.cookingwithmarialoi.com/re...
Sauerbraten

[jpr54_1]

what is wrong with the wine?
you said it was delicious-
Drink it!

[jpr54_1]

Not all 3 buck chuck is bad or undrinkable.
not everyone can afford $20+ wines

make pouched pairs
sangria

[Bigjim68]

It can be made into a wine sauce and reduced to about half or less and frozen in ice cube trays. When a recipe calls for wine, add a cube or two.

I do the same thing with stocks. Reduced to a glace texture and freeze.

[kengk]

As others have said, it will make a fine pan sauce.

[Puffin3]

Go spend sixty bucks on the ingredients to make a classic 'BB' and use the wine that way. Seriously just dump it along with whatever guest/s brought the wine.

[sr44]

You call it delicious, but cannot drink it? If you don't mind cooking with it, freeze it in small amounts (1 cup? Ice cubes?) for future use.

[tcamp]

I'm in the deglazing camp. Last night I sauteed onions and mushrooms, then tossed in some sausages and about a 1/2 cup of leftover crappy red. By the time the wine was gone and the sausages had browned, dinner was ready.

[pinehurst]

+1

[sedimental]

Sangria. All crappy wine becomes Sangria at my house :)

Make some Mexican food and you have party number 2!

[C. Hamster]

+1

Bad red wine was invented for sangria-making

[sedimental]

Yes, yes, yes. A bit of soda, brandy and fruit....no such thing as bad wine:)

[Jetgirly]

I made this yesterday. That will use up 1/4 cup!
http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-lenti...

[wyogal]

If you cannot drink it, don't cook with it. Dye some fabric with it. Make a fly trap with it.

[Googs]

I'm in this camp. If you can't drink it due to its bad taste, don't just go ahead and impart that taste to your dinner ingredients. God, I'd rather clean my sink with crumby wine than use it in my gravy or marinade. That's a terrible way for a fine cut of meat to die. You can use the Your Time's Worth versus The Wine's Worth to justify the act.

[nokitchen]

Would you drink it if you added some sugar and mulling spices and warmed it up for a couple hours?

[FriedClamFanatic]

If it's a bit vinegary........use it as a marinade for some beef

[ipsedixit]

Deglaze a pan to make sauce.

Marinade

Use it as poaching liquid (for things like fruit)

Make vinegar