Hey folks,
I’m making a few tenderloins on the grill for a dinner tomorrow night and am curious what your favorite wine for a basic brown sauce is…?
The sauce is the simple one: butter, shallots, beef stock, red wine, flour to thicken - maybe some thyme and a bit of mustard, but that will be determined as it turns out…
the wine however, what do you like? I’ve liked the way basic cotes du rhone has turned out, but I’m open to trying something new!
thanks!
TK
Beaujolais works well. The 09 Jadot basic Beaujolais should be perfect.
When using reds for a sauce I have two guidelines… first, nothing too tannic as the tannins add astringency. Second, nothing too fancy or high end since most of the complex aromatics will be lost. You’re really going after two things… alcohol to free up alcohol soluble flavors and fruit character. Beaujolais would work well, a simple Pinot Noir, a Merlot…
I have some 09 Bojos… perfect!
Don’t use really top Beaujolais though - see my above about complexities mostly going away when the wine reduces.
Now, if you’re using 1/4c and drinking the rest… meh.
Nice wine, recently available at fine wine shops like Safeway and Trader Joe’s. I’m working my way through a case. In fact, if your rating criteria are “good enough to drink and cheap enough for sauce,” this may be a 100 point wine!
I pretty much use whatever I have lying around or something cheap and fruity. In my experience, using better wine doesn’t meaningfully impact the quality of the sauce.
I recommend merlot, cabernet sauvignon or the underrated baco noir or chambourcin.
I like Spanish reds for sauces. Cheap, with good flavor. Please, make roux; no straight flour.
Made this once and it came out great.
Reduced a cup each of ruby port and beef stock by half then set aside.
Thinly slice a couple red onions, use a mandolin if possible and saute in a pan for 15-20 minutes until they start to carmelize, add a tablespoon of flour to the onions, and allow to cook for a couple of minutes, then add the reduced port/stock. Add a couple rosemary sticks and cook for another 10 minutes on low. At the end remove the rosemary and add a touch of cream.
How well did the sweetness of the port play with everything else? My first thought was that it might be cloying, but it sounds like it worked.
Isn’t this more or less a Bordelais sauce (minus the bone marrow)? Hard to see how you can go wrong with Bordeaux!
The port did very well, there was enough savory in the dish to overcome the sweetness. What I really hate to admit is that this recipe was in WS last year, one of the few times I have followed one of theirs.