Using wine in cooking doesn't mean choosing the most expensive -- or inexpensive -- bottle

How many different grape varieties are allowed in Chateauneuf-du-Pape? Which Italian wine region is the farthest north? What is the most aldehydic wine in the world?

I'd be hard pressed to answer any of these questions. In fact, I'm not even sure what the last one is asking. But Doug Hileman, who for 23 years has worked in the wine department at Schnucks (the last 16 as manager) knows the answers to them all.

That's because Hileman is a Certified Specialist of Wine, having recently earned that designation from the Society of Wine Educators. The recognition is sort of the equivalent of a Ph.D. in wine. In fact, at least one holder of the certification jokes that it took him longer to earn his CSW than it did his doctorate.

I'm not surprised. The CSW is awarded only to those who complete a rigorous timed exam based on a 300-page study guide covering, among other subjects, viticulture, wine composition and chemistry, the physiology of taste, and wine service and storage.

Hileman spent a year and a half preparing before he traveled to St. Louis last year to be sequestered in a room with just three other people for the test. He was the only one who passed that day. No wonder there are only about 30 people in this region who are entitled to put the CSW after their names and only about 1,600 nationwide.

As one who likes to cook with wine (I really do put it in the food -- usually), I knew Hileman was the person who could help me answer once and for all a fundamental question: How good a wine should you use in cooking? I know enough not to use so-called cooking wine. Ironically, it's poor quality wine that is loaded with salt. You usually find it near the vinegar in the supermarket and, frankly, it's not much better than the vinegar.

But after renouncing cooking wine, how much should I spend on a bottle destined for the stock pot? I remember Julia Child's injunction against using a wine you wouldn't drink, but that doesn't help much. Unless it's actually spoiled in some way, there aren't many wines I wouldn't drink.

So I took the question to Hileman, who presides over an inventory ranging in price from $3.49 to $450 per bottle. His answer: Don't use an expensive wine because the cooking process is a great leveler. It can diminish the complexity of a truly great wine and in some cases actually bring out the best in a more modest one. Perhaps that's why celebrity chef Mario Batali reportedly sometimes cooks with an economical merlot in lieu of a nobler Barolo.

For that matter, you don't have to spend a ton of money even on wine meant for drinking. Hileman said some of the best wine values are bottles under $10. And that's a certified judgment.

Coq au Riesling

Coq au Vin, or chicken in wine, is probably the most famous of all French chicken dishes, though the classic recipe calls for a rooster. This streamlined version adapted from Nigella Lawson substitutes Riesling for the usual red.

8 ounces bacon

3 medium onions, roughly chopped

10 chicken thighs

8 ounces mushrooms, halved

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley

3 tablespoons chopped tarragon

1 bottle dry Riesling wine

1 cup heavy cream

Chop bacon and cook over medium heat until it releases its fat. Add onions and saute until softened, about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon remove mixture. Increase heat to medium-high and brown chicken on both sides in remaining bacon fat. Remove from pan. Reduce heat to medium-low, add mushrooms, garlic, 3 tablespoons parsley and 2 tablespoons tarragon. Saute until mushrooms are coated in fat, about one minute. Return chicken and onion/bacon mixture to pan, add wine and bring to a boil. Turn heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for one hour. Stir in cream and sprinkle with remaining parsley and tarragon.

Tom Harte's book, "Stirring Words," is available at local bookstores. A Harte Appetite airs Fridays 8:49 a.m. on KRCU, 90.9 FM. Contact Tom at semissourian.com or at the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699.