Italian Cuisine

Sangio grapes pair well with hearty Italian and mushroom sauces	Tuscan wines are as famous as its amazing landscapes	Rich pasta ala oglio goes well with Chardonnay and Champagne

Food, Spices and Wine

Dinner at an Italian Restaurant – What food to choose with your bottle of wine?

Italian food and wine pairing

New Yorkers in my neck of the woods LOVE going to Italian restaurants! All that olive oil, good food and Italian hospitality combine to ensure a great time and a full stomach will be had by all. Many Italian restaurants offer wine by the glass, and the waitstaff often has great advice on pairing menu items with matching wines.
But what if your table decides to order by the bottle? Here are some suggestions for possible food pairings with two Italian reds and a few widespread wine favorites.

First, the Italian reds:

Chianti is an Italian staple, most any tomato-based dish sings with a glass of Chianti by its side. For a change of pace, consider choosing your favorite pasta with a mushroom or cheese sauce. Barolo, Barbaresco and other Nebbiolo-based wines are the strong men of the Italian wine list; pair your (decanted) glassful with tube-shaped pasta and a hearty meat sauce.

Now, for a few more widely-known wines:

If Chardonnay is on the table, consider choosing a cheesy ravioli dish. With Riesling lovers, a simple dish of Gnocchi could be a made to order pairing. Pinot Noir is a wine with amazing flavors; Pinot lovers can ensure that the wine is the star of the show by pairing a glass with a simple preparation of Pasta with olive oil. If your dinner party prefers Merlot, you might order a meaty or mushroom ravioli dish. If the table has chosen a tannic wine like Cabernet Sauvignon, you might opt for a heavy meat sauce for your favorite pasta. If your dining partners choose Zinfandel, you could request pasta with a spicy sauce.

Like French food and wine, Italian food and wine go hand in hand. If you follow the standard wine pairing rules with Italian food, you won't run into many problems. For most people, Italian fare spells pasta, yet Italy's distinct regional cuisines offer plenty of variety. Fresh pastas, rich sauces, seafood, meat, risotto, polenta, crusty breads, olive oil, cheese and of course pizza characterize Italian food and pair well with wines from regions that inspired them.

Sauce Rules

A quick and easy rule for pairing Italian cuisine with Italian wine is to match the sauce to the wine. A lighter sauce goes well with a lighter wine, while a richer sauce pairs best with a more complex wine. Be mindful of exceptions to the rules however, especially when it comes to wine. Sometimes a heavier, fattier dish requires a drier wine with more acid to lighten the load. Northern Italian comfort foods built around beef, lamb and rabbit pair well with a full bodied Italian red. Northern game, cheese and prosciutto pair well with lighter, fruitier whites. Olive oil, bread and wine are quintessentially Italian. Try a Sangiovese wine with crusty bread or a Pinot Noir with an olive oil based pasta dish. Sangiovese based wines also pair well with most hearty Italian dishes and mushroom sauces.

Chianti Loves Tomato

Chianti is the default wine for tomato based sauces and will also compliment strong cheese sauces. It has just the right acid level for tomatoes. Seafood pasta dishes and mild cheese stuffed pasta pair well with Chardonnay or even Champagne. Voigner pairs well with creamier sauces such as alfredo, and buttery sauces stand up to Chardonnay. Meat lasagnas pairs well with Valpollicello and Chianti, even a Cabernet Sauvignon. Vegetable lasagnas which are milder and contain mushrooms may pair better with a Pinot Noir. Italian appetizers and soups typically pair best with lighter, drier wines. Full-bodied red wines go well with Italy's cured meats, such as prosciutto, salami and pancetta. Pesto, another Italian classic, pairs with rich reds, while the classic pizza pairs well with reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Chianti and Merlot. When in doubt remember that Italian food and wine culture have developed hand in hand and regional food pair best with wines from the same region.