Use #1 for Leftover Wine

I know, there's a group out there saying, "What does 'leftover wine' mean?" But this recipe is really worth the cup of good red wine it uses. It's a recipe that I adapted from Epicurious.com because I didn't have all the ingredients it called for. I had tried one of my birthday wines, the one from the formerly Cote-du-Rhone region of Gigondas, and wanted to give it a spin in some food.

First I soaked pieces of day-old French bread (crusts on) in whole milk for 10 minutes (I'd guess 1 1/2 cups of bread to about 1/2 cup milk). Meanwhile I finely chopped half a white onion and a handful of fresh parsley. Put a little less than a pound of ground beef in the food processor, then added the onion and parsley, 1 egg, the soaked bread (omitting any milk that wasn't soaked up), dried sage, salt and pepper. Processed it all until it was a consistent paste (this took awhile and was kind of difficult, as the processor was really full; I think I'd put the bread on the bottom next time). Formed into 2-inch meatballs and baked in single layer in a glass baking dish at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

Tossed the baked meatballs with a light dusting of flour, then panfried them in butter and olive oil until they were brown. Then I added a mixture of 1 cup wine, one small can tomato juice and some chicken-stock paste to the pan, stirring to get some of the stuff on the bottom of the pan. Brought to a boil and bubbled for about 20 minutes, until the sauce was nice and thick. Sprinkled with more parsley. I served with bread, but the recipe from Epicurious suggested mashed potatoes, which I think would be even better. The sauce is fantastic, rich and winey, with a concentrated flavor.