Pairing pasta with wine is a delicate process that requires attention to detail. Not only that, it requires just a bit of wine knowledge. For this specific type of dish, we are focusing on Italian wines for our wine pairing pasta challenge.
Share this article
Everyone loves pasta, at least the majority of the population. Therefore, if you are hosting a dinner for friends or family, or simply for a date—you will want to know the correct Italian
wines for pairing with pasta.
As with many other dishes, the Italian wines you are going to want to choose differs with the specific dish. When considering a wine pairing with pasta you are more frequently going to want to ignore the pasta itself. What I mean is, when it comes to pairing pasta with wine, the sauce is what sets the tone.
Pairing Pasta With Wine:
Many of us remain focused on the pasta in the dish, however, the pasta is merely a vessel. Your pasta is like your canvas, it provides a base for the ingredients of your choosing. The sauce, the meat, the vegetables; it’s what you put in that calls for an appropriate wine pairing for pasta. Let’s delve into different Italian wines and what they are best served alongside as far as pairing pasta with wine goes.
Tomato sauce-based pasta dishes
Of course, when many of us think about preparing pasta, red or tomato sauce is what we picture. And often times, it is the path we choose to take due to all our favorite traditional Italian dishes. Some things to consider are the fact that tomato sauce is high in acidity and needs one of the tart red Italian wines with a medium body.
Rigatoni with Ragu Baresee and Salice Salentino is a drool worthy dish that demands a tasty red blend. With large, tasty rigatoni noodles and red meat, a Salice Salentino variety of Negroamaro will do nicely. It complements red meat like peanut butter and jelly. It is rich in tannins, full-bodied, and full of dark berry fruit flavors. This variety of Italian wines is grown exclusively in Puglia. Primitivo or zinfandel, is another solid option.
Take a look at our basic Wine Pairing Guide!
Pairing pasta with wine can be quite the challenge. And making a wine pairing and pasta decision when you are dealing with Italian wines and dishes is imperative. Not only do you need to consider what protein choice you are going to use in your dish but also your sauce.
Wine pairing to pasta made with cheese
Pairing pasta with wine when cheese is involved is a whole other ballgame. For something like four-cheese or Gorgonzola pasta, you want to opt for one of the crisp and dry, white Italian wines. For instance, a light Chardonnay will complement cheesy pasta dishes perfectly. Antinori Bramito Chardonnay 2016 is one of many beautiful Italian wines that work with cheese pasta.
It boasts flavors of tropical fruits, citrus, and a variety of delicate aromas certain to please your sense of smell. Critically acclaimed for its rich melon and peach noes, this medium-bodied wine is a dream.
Pairing Italian wines with seafood themed pasta
Pairing pasta with wine gets tricky when dealing with seafood. There are however, plenty of delicious Italian wines out there that do seafood pasta justice. Wine pairing pasta with seafood is heavily reliant not only on the protein but again, on the sauce.
For a dish such as linguine with crab, dry and crisp white Italian wines are again in order. When pairing a pasta with wine such as this, I highly recommend New Zealand’s Sauvignon Blanc – RJS CRU Select. It is crisp, light, and bursts with the flavors of light oak, grapefruit, and earth.
Creamy pasta sauces and Italian wines
Say you are having a dinner party serving plates of pasta primavera with fresh vegetables. If you need help pairing pasta with wine, the important thing to know here is you want to keep light. In the end, you are going to need to offset the weight of the sauce with an Arneis, Falanghina, or a light Sauvignon Blanc.
I personally recommend Pieropan Soave Classico La Rocca 2015. It is affordable yet tantalizing. It smells of nuts and soft exotic fruits like velvet. The taste is smooth and light, allowing the meal to shine. It is also a great accompaniment to more complex meals such as risotto, salt cod, crab, and the like.
In Conclusion:
Pairing pasta with wine can be quite the challenge. And making a wine pairing and pasta decision when you are dealing with Italian wines and dishes is imperative. Not only do you need to consider what protein choice you are going to use in your dish but also your sauce.
The sauce itself is what is going to ultimately determine what wine you should choose. As boundless as the selection of wine is, so too is the world of pasta sauce. Creamy, cheesy, marinara, olive oil… you name it and you can make a sauce out of it. Hopefully this guide will give you some idea of what to use at your next dinner.