Zinfandel substitutes

DNA studies confirmed this southern Italian wine is the identical grape, so the flavour lands in the same place, though Italian versions are usually a little more savoury and dried-herb scented and slightly less overtly jammy than Californian Zinfandel.

Best for

beef and pork braises, barbecue sauces and glazes, ragu, short ribs, chilli, marinades

The genuinely correct swap and often cheaper than Zinfandel. If a Californian recipe was leaning on Zin's sweet berry-jam quality, Primitivo can read slightly leaner, which is easily fixed with a teaspoon of brown sugar or a few raisins.

Same dark colour, similar weight and alcohol, with black pepper and smoked-meat notes replacing Zinfandel's bramble jam, so a braise made with it tastes more savoury and spicy and less sweetly fruity.

Best for

beef and lamb, barbecue and grilled meat, braises, sausage, chilli, marinades

The best all-round substitute after Primitivo, and very widely available. Australian Shiraz is riper and closer to Zinfandel; northern Rhone Syrah is leaner and more peppery. If the recipe involved barbecue sauce or brown sugar, either works well.

Also high in alcohol with ripe, sweet-tasting red fruit, which mimics Zinfandel's warmth well, but it is paler and softer in tannin, so a sauce made with it has less colour and less structure and can taste slightly candied.

Best for

braises, sausage and pork, tomato-based sauces, beans and lentils, lamb

A good match on ripeness, a weaker match on depth. If the sauce looks pale and thin, cook a teaspoon of tomato paste in the pan for a minute before deglazing, which adds both colour and savoury body.

Darker and more tannic than Zinfandel with plum and violet or blueberry fruit, so the sauce comes out inkier, firmer and more grippy, and slightly less sweet on the finish.

Best for

beef, short ribs, grilled meat, long braises, reduction sauces

Better than Zinfandel for anything you want to reduce to a real glaze, since the extra tannin gives structure. Do not reduce them as hard as you would a Zin, and finish off the heat with cold butter to soften the tannic edge.

Considerably softer and less alcoholic, with plum instead of blackberry jam, so on its own the sauce tastes gentler and flatter, which is why a little sugar or a few raisins simmered in it makes such a difference.

Best for

pan sauces, pork, mushroom sauces, mild braises, tomato dishes

The right choice if all you want is a red wine that will not fight the food, and a useful one if the recipe already has plenty of chilli, since Zinfandel's high alcohol can amplify heat. Strain the raisins out before serving or mash them into the sauce.

The juice covers the dark, jammy fruit better here than for most reds, because Zinfandel really does taste fruit-forward, and the stock and vinegar supply savoury depth and acidity; what is missing is the alcoholic warmth, which is a large part of Zin's character.

Best for

alcohol-free cooking, barbecue sauces, braises, chilli, glazes

One of the more successful alcohol-free wine swaps, particularly in barbecue-style sauces where sweetness and tang are already the point. Add the vinegar off the heat and taste before adding all of it, since juices differ a lot in sweetness.