Skip to main content

The Manual may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site.

These are the best dry white wines for cooking – add these to your kitchen toolbox

Dry white wines can add complementary flavors to any number of dishes

Young man eating salmon fillet with gratinated potatoes, leek and spinach in the restaurant with glass of white wine
BGStock72 / Adobe Stock

Cooking wines can be a contentious subject among chefs and home cooks. Everybody seems to have an opinion, and those opinions don’t often match. Fear not, as we’ve logged a lot of hours cooking with and sipping on quality white wine and have some reliable takeaways.

One mantra we can agree with is this: Never cook with a wine you wouldn’t otherwise drink. If it’s not really palatable, it could alter your dish in unsavory ways. About the only exception to this rule is with older red wine, which you can use like vinegar when making red sauces, stews, and that sort of thing. But when it comes to white wine, cook with what you like to sip.

Recommended Videos

But there’s a caveat. Since you’re going to be pouring a decent amount into your pasta or sauteed vegetables, that wine should not break the bank. Pouring grower Champagne into your pot may evoke a certain carefree coolness, but it’s also a serious waste of great wine (not to mention money).

So, we’ve set the bar at $25. This is a fair cutoff for white wine, wherein you can still find some lovely gems that are great for cooking with and drinking while you’re cooking.

Why dry white wine?

Professional chef cooking in the kitchen restaurant at the hotel, preparing dinner. A cook in an apron makes a salad of vegetables and pizza
Xartproduction / Adobe Stock

Dry white wine is about as nimble as liquid comes, offering complementary flavors and a nice streak of acid that can bring life to any number of dishes. Semi-sweet and sweet wines can help select dishes — think desserts and rich sauces — but largely, that residual sugar can get in the way, especially if you’re producing a savory meal.

A good dry white can also add much-needed tenderness and moisture, which proteins especially respond well to. This style is also ideal for deglazing or collecting all of those tasty bits on the bottom of a pan and repurposing them in your dish.

The best dry white wine for cooking

White wine in glass swirling
Big Dodzy / Unsplash

Crisp? Check. Lively acidity? Check. Nice and dry? Check. These are the qualities you look for in a good white wine when you’re hoping to cook with the stuff. Play around with varietal flavors to see what suits your palate. Best bets include sauvignon blanc, often grassy and tart, and any number of Italian whites made for the kitchen and your dinner table.

Keep in mind that these wines will last, too. Once open, they’ll keep for up to a week in the fridge, so long as you put the cap back on or re-cork it. And think about bringing the wine to temperature beforehand, depending on what you’re going to do with the stuff. We love a frigid white on a hot day but if the wine is too cold, it can lose a bit of its flavor and even tinker with the temperature and consistency of that sauce you’re making.

Here are the five best dry white wines for cooking.

Mary Taylor Clara Sala Sicilia Blanco

Mary Taylor Clara Sala Sicilia Blanco
Mary Taylor

This zippy white from Sicily works well with so many different foods. The grape is Grillo, and while this white is usually used for blending, it’s a great stand-alone wine, especially when you have your apron on. And it comes from a part of Italy near Marsala, a place long known to understand the power of great cooking wines.

Acrobat Pinot Gris

Acrobat Pinot Gris Bottle
Acrobat

There’s a reason why this bottle shows up on so many of our lists (many reasons, actually). Balanced, bright, and refreshing, it’s a great option for lifting pastas and poultry dishes and pairing with anything from grilled vegetables to shellfish. Try it with a little salt and butter for an excellent base for your favorite starches.

Mongrana Bianco

Mongrana Bianco wine.
Querciabella

Made primarily of Vermentino, this Italian white shows tangy fruit notes with a kiss of honeysuckle. Use it as the base for a nice vinaigrette for your favorite summer salad or use it to douse your stir-fry or chicken picatta.

King Estate Sauvignon Blanc

King Estate Sauvignon Blanc.
King Estate

This bracing white from the Willamette Valley offers all the hallmarks of the varietal. There’s a little Semillon introduced to round out the wine and the citrus and tangerine notes do exceptionally well when cooking Asian and spicy fare.

Balletto Chardonnay

Balletto Chardonnay bottle.
Belletto

Hailing from the cooler Russian River Valley in Northern California, this chardonnay is all about finesse. Forget the distracting oak and richness of the California chardonnays of old. This one is full of life and great when cooking with white fish, buttery pastas, and even Indian cuisine.

That dry white wine doesn’t necessarily have to show up in bottle form to be a good wine for cooking. Check out our feature on the best boxed wine for some ideas. And when you’re thinking about pairings, refer to our seafood and wine guide as well as our sauvignon blanc guide.

Mark Stock
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
Savor your brew: The best K-Cup coffees for all tastes
K-Cup coffee for any occasion
Cup of coffee

Since 2004, when Keurig decided to expand its single-serving coffee brewing system to the home market, K-Cups have remained a staple of many households. Simple and easy, you can't beat the convenience of K-Cup coffee, which features pre-ground coffee contained within a small capsule. Ideal for the solo coffee drinker or a quick cup of coffee, K-Cup coffee makes brewing a cup of coffee as simple as possible. With no clean-up and no need to buy coffee filters, it's easy to see why nearly 40 million households use them.

The widespread popularity of K-Cup coffee also means there are endless varieties to choose from, with new brands frequently emerging. Which brand delivers the best brew for your personal coffee preferences? Below, we've narrowed down the best K-Cup of coffee available for every coffee preference. Here are a few of the best K-Cup coffees worth trying.
Best K-Cup coffee

Read more
Add some sparkle to your party with the glittering Goldfish Cocktail
Combine Goldwasser gold leaf liqueur with Cointreau, gin, and lemon juice for a delicious and celebratory drink
Goldfish Cocktail

When it comes to celebration drinks, we tend to go straight to one ingredient: Champagne. And while Champagne cocktails can indeed be delicious, they aren't the only way to celebrate. You can also find a variety of liqueurs which have a celebratory feeling, like Goldwasser, which is a herbal liqueur that has flakes of gold leaf floating in it. Don't worry -- the golf leaf is safe to consume -- but it does add a fun touch of sparkle to a drink.

The tricky part is finding a way to make a drink that still tastes great as well as looking good. This recipe, for a drink called a Goldfish, balances the herbal flavors of the Goldwasser with the robust orange peel flavor of Cointreau, and adds gin and lemon to give more botanical notes and citrus zing.

Read more
The 9 best coffee subscriptions to satiate your caffeinated desires
Enjoy coffee dropped right at your front door
MistoBox

Drinking a piping hot (or ice-cold) cup of coffee is a morning ritual we can’t live without. If you love trying plenty of great coffees or want a caffeine-packed day without going to a cafe, we recommend investing your hard-earned cash in a coffee subscription box. Given the popularity and demand of the best subscription boxes, getting a coffee subscription is like having a personal roastmaster at home.

The hard part is figuring out which coffee delivery service is best for you. Some brands roast all different types of coffee beans they source from all over the globe, and some hook you up with hundreds of different roasters. Lucky for you, we’ve done the dirty work. Below, we’ve gathered the 9 best coffee subscriptions to help you brew the ideal cup of joe any time.
Stumptown coffee roasters

Read more