Once I was in an italian restaurant where you could see the chefs cooking. My friend ordered a a pasta whose sauce was made of vegetables red meat and white wine. As far as I could remember he cooked the vegetables and meat in a wok pot and then basically "deglaze" the pot with no more than what I would assume a half cup of white wine then I think he added paste and mixed altogether. In the end it tasted very aromatic as if he boiled away the alcohol from a whole bottle of wine and added the remaining grape essence to the pasta.
I tried the same process I cooked the vegetables, occasionally adding a spoon of white wine then added meat and whenever the pot was hot enough to boil a spoon of wine instantaneously I added a spoonful of wine again. I preferred this method because I did not have a wok pot and strong enough fire. In the end I ended up using a cup of white wine which gave little to no taste to the food at all.
So what am I doing wrong, is it the choice of wine that makes the dish very aromatic or choice of cooking method?
Update: After alot of tries I have seen that Moscato wine gives the most flavor to the food as the wine itself is very aromatic and sweet. For two portions of food I use one glass of it and a spoon of balsamic vinegar to balance the sweetness. In spanish dishes it is also used for bean and meat stews which I have also seen to be very nice.
Best Answer
There are several things that come together to produce the overall flavor profile of the dish, not all of them having anything to do with the wine. Traditional factors such as good spicing, blooming the spices, browning ingredients and so forth continue to have a huge affect.
Deglazing with some wine adds the following:
The first and last of these affects probably have the most profound affect on your dish.
Adding the wine in dribs and drabs probably doesn't help, but in the end you need to use enough wine to have a good effect on your dish. Even though it will be reduced, it is still an ingredient, and you need to have enough to matter.
I do suggest adding it all at once, and letting it boil away; this should work quite well.
The quality of wine you use also matters. You want a wine that tastes decent, even as a beverage. My personal preference for cooking is a Chardonnay, but I don't think that preference is universal.