Bordeaux Wine substitute

Substitutes for Bordeaux Wine with ratios

1. 2Cabernet Sauvignon on its own

   Different texture

   Use the same amount

   Provides the same firm tannin, deep colour and blackcurrant note, but without Merlot's plummy flesh to soften it, so a reduction comes out more austere and drying and can taste a little green or herbaceous at the cheaper end.

   What changes

   Best for

   beef, lamb, reduction sauces, braises, marinades

   Excellent in a long braise where time softens the tannin. In a quick pan sauce, do not reduce it all the way, and finish off the heat with a tablespoon of cold butter, which coats the tannin and makes the sauce taste rounder immediately.

2. 3Merlot

   Different texture

   Use the same amount

   One of the actual Bordeaux grapes and the dominant one on the right bank, so it belongs here; on its own it is softer, plummier and lower in tannin, so the sauce is more velvety and less structured, with less of that firm savoury grip.

   What changes

   Best for

   pan sauces, beef and pork, mushroom sauces, tomato-based dishes, lighter braises

   The forgiving option, and the better choice if you are nervous about bitterness or cooking for people who find red wine sauces harsh. To add back some of the savoury depth, cook a teaspoon of tomato paste in the pan for a minute before deglazing.

3. 4Rioja or Tempranillo

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

   Similar weight and moderate tannin, but Rioja is aged in American oak, which gives it a distinct vanilla, coconut and dill aroma on top of dried-cherry fruit, so the finished sauce tastes sweeter-smelling and less cassis-like than a Bordeaux one.

   What changes

   Best for

   beef and lamb braises, chorizo and bean dishes, short ribs, gravies

   A very good cooking wine in its own right, just a different accent. It shines with anything involving smoked paprika, chorizo or beans, and reads slightly off in a strictly classical French sauce.

4. 5Chianti or Sangiovese

   Taste and texture differ

   Use the same amount

   Higher in acidity and lighter in body than Bordeaux, with tart cherry, dried herb and leather instead of blackcurrant and cedar, so the sauce is brighter and thinner and considerably less rich.

   What changes

   Best for

   tomato-based braises, ragu, beans and lentils, pork, beef stews with tomato

   Choose this deliberately rather than as a compromise: its acidity is a real asset in anything with tomatoes and a slight liability in a classic butter-finished bordelaise. If the sauce tastes thin, reduce it further and add a spoonful of tomato paste.

5. 6Beef stock plus vinegar and tomato paste (alcohol-free)

   Taste and texture differ

   For ½ cup Bordeaux, use ½ cup beef stock, 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar and 1 teaspoon tomato paste

   Rebuilds the savoury depth, the acidity and some of the colour, but there is no honest way to replicate tannin without wine or tea, so the sauce will taste rounder and softer, and it will lack the drying grip that makes a red wine reduction feel substantial.

   What changes

   Best for

   alcohol-free cooking, gravies, braises, stews

   If you want a little of the tannic structure back, steep a black tea bag in the hot stock for one minute and no longer, then remove it. That is an old trick and it does help, but over-steeping makes the sauce genuinely bitter.