Pasta is one of those foods which works well year round. In the depths of winter, a big bowl of spaghetti bolognese, laden with Parmesan cheese and a glass of red wine (while seated next to a fire!) works wonders for both the body and soul. In summer, seafood pastas are summery and light enough to enjoy in hot weather. There is really something for almost everyone.
Pairing wine and pasta is actually a pretty easy task too. The really easy approach is to pair the pasta with a wine from the region it comes – although this rather supposes that all of your geography, wine and gastronomic knowledge are up to that task and that your budget (both of time and money) can stretch to tracking down and buying an imported wine.
And, as always, the best wine to pair with any food is really the wine you feel like drinking!
So … let’s start with the mighty Bolognese sauce. This slow-cooked meaty staple comes from the city of Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy. Wine-wise, the region is famed for Lambrusco and while a good Lambrusco could work well with a Bolognese sauce a safer bet is a Sangiovese. And while yes, Chianti is renowned for its Sangioveses, Sangio is also grown in Emilia-Romagna – making it an appropriate pick all round.
Fun fact – the Italians use tagliatelle as the shape of choice, or use the sauce to make lasagne! No spaghetti in sight!
Next up – that staple of Italian cafes and restaurants throughout Australia … Carbonara. This hails from the region of Lazio (home to Rome) – a region where 90% of the wines produced are white. While Lazio isn’t famed for Pinot Grigio, it’s relatively neutral and subtle flavours, plus tons of acidity, make it an excellent pairing for Carbonara. Because the flavours of a Carbonara are subtle, you do not want to go to a really full-flavoured white, and you definitely need bright acidity to cut through the creaminess of the sauce.
Fun fact – real Carbonara has never seen cream, it’s just eggs and cheese, with guanciale (cured pork cheek – bacon often the nearest substitute) and seasoning.
Linguine alle vongole takes us further south in Italy, to Campania and warm and sunny Naples. In Italy this delicious dish combines clams with either a ‘white’ sauce (oil, garlic, parsley & white wine) or a ‘red’ sauce (adding tomatoes & basil to the mix). There’s a bit more flavour oomph here so crack open a Fiano – a grape variety which does also come from Campania!
Fun fact – so while this often pops up on Australian menus as linguine we, yet again, have the shape wrong and now the Italians do use spaghetti!
Gnocchi with Pesto, or, more strictly, pesto alla genovese is another pub/cafe/restaurant staple (sometimes with some chicken thrown in for good measure). The cheesy, pine-nut, basil blend does get overused and bad ones abound but let’s work with the best pesto you’ve ever tasted. Genoa (of the alla genovese) is in Liguria which sits on the Ligurian Sea and is home to tourism, sunshine and seafood. Of all the dishes, gnocchi with pesto lends itself best to either a red or white choice. For the whites, a crisp Vermentino (hailing from Liguria originally) or try a Dolcetto – a light red with good levels of acidity to cut through the pesto.
Fun fact – there are lots of variations of pesto – the Genovese one is just the most well-known. And yes, we shouldn’t be using gnocchi – we should use a pasta like trofie or trenette and our gnocchi should be served with butter and sage!
