What is Wine?
Cooking wine is exactly what it sounds like, wine created and used specifically for cooking. Any wine can be used in food preparation, but cooking wine is less expensive, less complex in flavor and not made to drink. Cooking wine comes in reds, whites, sweet wines and rice wines. Each one suits specific dishes and is poured in to a sauce, gravy, meat, etc. and lends depth of flavor and richness. The alcohol cooks out via the heat source, leaving only the wine flavor.
What does Wine Taste Like?
...Sweet is one of the five main tastes. It has smooth and round notes in its flavor profile. Sweet is a naturally occurring flavor in many foods, including fruits, berries, winter squashes, sugarcane, and honey. The sweet taste in these foods is due to a higher sugar content. Sweetness is characteristic of desserts and is used as an accent in savory foods.