Red Wine Jus – A Delectable and Classic Favourite

Last Updated on January 4, 2025

Traditional Red Wine Jus to make a silk purse from a sausage

The kind of red wine reduction that makes for one of those rich and delicious sauces is hardly a frugal creation. But, red wine jus is an addition that can elevate all sorts of dishes to the sublime and, if you make your own bone stock, the cost is mostly just that of half a bottle of wine.

There are a few tricks you can use to make this classic sauce your own or to tailor it to the dish you are planning to serve it with. It’s a rich flavourful sauce that is made by reducing red wine, shallots and herbs to make a concentrated sauce that can coat the back of a spoon. You may add cranberry or red currant jelly if you are serving it with game or poultry. If you want a thick sauce without the angst, you can add a slurry of wine and cornflour to thicken the mixture and, if the taste of beef stock is too heavy for you, you can substitute veal or chicken stock.

I use a mixture of olive oil and butter as much in an attempt to make a healthier red wine jus as for reasons of flavour. And, while I make my own stock, I’ll often base this super-rich jus on a chicken stock rather than beef or on a 50/50 mix of the two. I confess I’ve never made veal bone stock so I am not sure what the flavour profile would be. When necessary I’ve also made red wine jus using Freja beef broth, a good commercially available option that has a great shelf life and that I can keep in the cupboard to use when necessary. I don’t use stock cubes but if you want to try to make a vegan jus then I’d recommend using Marigold bouillon.

You’ll also need two or three banana shallots, a sprig or two of thyme and rosemary, a few cloves of garlic and of course, salt and pepper to taste.

The choice of red wine is yours of course. I recommend using the best you can – you should be happy to drink the wine you are making your jus from. In this case, I was serving a saddle of venison for New Year’s Eve and we happily drank the remaining half bottle of Journey’s End Identity Merlot. It’s a wonderfully fruity red wine from South Africa that retails at £9.00 from Morrisons and that will pair will with most red meats, with game birds and with cheese and chocolate(!) While it might seem extravagant to use half a bottle of quality wine in a sauce, I’d argue that the main flavours in a red wine jus are concentrated notes from the wine.

Once you have your ingredients to hand, start by heating the olive oil in a medium-sized pan. Add the finely chopped shallots and garlic together with some salt and pepper and gently sweat on a low heat for 10 minutes or so until they are soft and translucent. Add the herbs and continue to cook for a minute or so before adding in the wine. Now turn the heat up and bring the mix to a brisk simmering point. Stir occasionally and reduce the liquid down by a half to two-thirds until you have a stickyish mixture.

Now add in your stock and continue to reduce down until you are left with half the liquid and you have a mixture that can coat the back of your spoon. Strain off the jus into a clean pan, check the seasoning and adjust as necessary. You can add in a slurry of cornflour and red wine or water for a thicker jus or up to a tablespoon of red currant/cranberry jelly for a sweeter, fruitier jus (it will also thicken the sauce a bit). When you are ready to serve, add a tablespoon of butter and gently heat the jus, whisking it to mix in the melting butter.

I love serving red wine jus with everything from sausages to game birds. It’s particularly good if you are serving mashed potatoes. If you want to try the (highly recommended) saddle of venison, you can buy it online from Swaledale Butchers – I cook mine by following their instructions which I’ve linked to here

Meanwhile, here’s the recipe for enough red wine jus for 4 greedy or 6 frugal diners! You can freeze any spare jus (I use a silicon tray that makes largish cubes). It will keep well for 2 to 3 months!.