🍷 Classic Sauce Technique · Sauces
White Wine Herb Reduction
A sharp aromatic reduction of white wine, vinegar, peppercorns, shallot, garlic, thyme and tarragon for finishing sauces.
Behind the plate
A good reduction is a concentrated seasoning rather than a finished sauce. Wine and vinegar carry the perfume of peppercorn, shallot and herbs, then lose half their volume to create a measured acidic base.
This canonical preparation can be made once and linked wherever it is used. The Hollandaise page calls for this reduction by name instead of repeating its ingredients and method.
Why this recipe works
Gentle boiling extracts flavour from the aromatics while evaporating water and alcohol. Reducing by volume makes the result repeatable, and cooling before storage protects the fresh tarragon character.
The recipe
Ingredients
- 150 ml dry white wine
- 100 ml white wine vinegar
- 10 g pink peppercorns
- 10 g black peppercorns
- 2 shallots, finely sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, sliced
- 5 g fresh thyme
- 10 g fresh tarragon
Method
- Place all the measured ingredients in a small non-reactive saucepan.
- Bring to the boil, then reduce to a steady simmer.
- Cook until the liquid has reduced by half, judging the volume rather than only the time.
- Remove from the heat and strain through a fine sieve, pressing the aromatics lightly.
- Cool rapidly, transfer to a clean covered container, label and refrigerate.
Chef’s notes
- Mark the starting and target volumes on a narrow measuring container if exact reduction is difficult to judge in the pan.
- Use a stainless-steel saucepan; reactive metals can affect an acidic reduction.
- Do not reduce until completely dry. The finished liquid must still be pourable and measurable.
- This is a concentrated ingredient, not a finished drinking or serving sauce.
At the table
Use the complete batch in the linked Hollandaise, or add small measured amounts to beurre blanc, cream sauces and pan sauces.