Alternative To Marsala

Our answer

Nigella uses marsala wine in several dishes, such as Chicken With Red Grapes And Marsala. It is useful to have a bottle to hand as it is fortified, so lasts for a while after opening, and is good for sploshing into gravies and sauces for some extra flavour. Marsala comes in dry and sweet form and although it has an amber colour it is made from white grapes, then fermented and fortified with brandy to give an ABV of 15-20%. Dry or semi-dry marsala is usually used for savoury dishes and sweet marsala is used for desserts, such as zabaglione.

Kiddush wines vary but they are often made from red grapes and in our limited experience they are sweet but not usually heavily fortified, with an ABV of 11-12.5% (in-line with regular wines). So it is unlikely to last as long as marsala after opening. It may possibly be used in some dishes, such as the chicken dish above, but if it is very sweet then it will make the sauce too sweet. The sweet wine could be used though as a replacement for sweet marsala in zabaglione or tiramisu. So it really depends on the wine that you have and the dish that you are making.