Chianti substitutes

Rosso di Montalcino, Morellino di Scansano, Sangiovese di Romagna or a bottle simply labelled Sangiovese. Same grape, same region or nearby, same job.

Best for

Tuscan braises, ragu, chicken cacciatore, beef stew, pan sauces, risotto

Effectively indistinguishable once cooked. If anything Rosso di Montalcino is a touch riper and rounder, which makes a braise very slightly plusher. This is the swap where nobody at the table will ever know.

Two inexpensive dry Italian reds that behave almost exactly like Chianti in a pot. Barbera is the higher-acid option, Montepulciano the softer.

Best for

ragu, braises, tomato-based sauces, sausage and lentils

Barbera has even brighter acidity and lighter tannin, so a long braise stays lively but has slightly less grip on the palate. Montepulciano is fruitier and lower in acid, so a tomato sauce made with it tastes a shade rounder and sweeter; a small extra splash of red wine vinegar at the end restores the lift.

The best non-Italian options, chosen because they are dry, moderately tannic and not heavily oaked. Any of the three works in essentially every Chianti recipe.

Best for

beef and lamb braises, cacciatore, pan sauces, mushroom dishes, coq au vin style dishes

Pinot Noir gives a lighter, more delicate sauce with less tannic backbone, which suits chicken and mushrooms and slightly underpowers a long beef braise. Cotes du Rhone brings a peppery, herbal edge that flatters lamb. Merlot is the plushest and can make the sauce taste faintly sweet; balance with a spoonful of vinegar. Avoid oaky Zinfandel, Shiraz or anything over about 14.5 percent alcohol, which reduce down to a jammy, slightly bitter, over-oaked sauce.

Useful because a bottle keeps for months in the fridge, so it is the practical answer if you only cook with wine occasionally.

Best for

pan sauces, deglazing, short braises, chicken and pork

Red vermouth is both sweeter and more bitter than Chianti, with wormwood and warm-spice botanicals, so a sauce made with it tastes distinctly herbal and slightly candied. Cut any sugar, honey or extra carrot in the recipe, add a squeeze of lemon at the end, and keep the quantity modest. In amounts above half a cup it stops tasting like a wine sauce and starts tasting like vermouth.

The best alcohol-free swap, and the one most recipes are silently missing. Stock supplies the savoury liquid, the vinegar supplies the acidity that was Chianti's main structural job. A teaspoon of tomato paste or a splash of unsweetened cranberry or pomegranate juice adds back the fruit and colour.

Best for

braises, ragu, cacciatore, pot roast, sauces for children or anyone avoiding alcohol

The sauce comes out slightly thinner in flavour and without the drying tannic grip that makes a wine-braised dish feel structured, so it can taste a bit flat after a long reduction. Two fixes matter: add the vinegar in the last few minutes rather than at the start, because simmering drives it off, and finish with a knob of butter or a good glug of olive oil to restore the body the wine's tannin was providing.

Non-alcoholic red wine has improved considerably and is the closest alcohol-free match on flavour, since it starts as actual wine.

Best for

braises, sauces, serving alongside the meal

Most brands are noticeably sweeter and lower in acid than real Chianti, because sugar is often added back to fill the gap alcohol leaves. Taste the bottle first, then cut sugar elsewhere in the recipe and add a teaspoon of red wine vinegar per cup. It also reduces to a slightly syrupy texture faster than wine does, so watch the pan.

A pantry answer when you have no stock and no wine. The tartness and dark colour do a surprising amount of Chianti's visual and acidic work.

Best for

beef braises, tomato sauces, pot roast

Do not use it undiluted and do not use sweetened juice, or the sauce turns into something closer to a glaze. Even unsweetened, expect a fruitier, brighter, slightly more compote-like result than Chianti gives, and less savoury depth. Add a pinch of salt and a little extra black pepper to pull it back savoury.