[cape chef]

Coq Au Vin is a Burgundian dish. the red wine is used not to mask flavor, but to allow the acids to help break down the old meat of the cockerel. True coq Au Vin was actually finished with the blood of the rooster stabilized with brandy and vinegar, this would help the blood not clot.The gartiture of baby onions and mushrooms is also a classic stemming from Burgundy. Most of us today cannot find roosters, so we use chickens and prepare what is really called poulet Au Vin rouge (chicken with red wine)The wine for coq Au Vin should always be a red burgundy (Pinot Noir)like the Chambertin quoted previously. We should also consider reducing the wine a bit with the aromatics to soften the acids and rough edges as a standard bird today will braise to quickly for the wine to naturally soften, then marinate

Using white wine would not constitute a coq Au Vin, it would be a poulet Au Vin blanc (simply)