Judging by the shelves of our local supermarket and the boxes of essentials now being delivered by many of our restaurant customers direct to people’s homes, there is a lot of pasta being cooked in the country at this moment!
With that in mind, we decided to give a brief rundown of our favourite wines to enjoy with pasta dishes. We hope that it provides you with some inspiration to get involved in some food and wine matching within the comfort of your own home.
Tomato-based pasta
Tomatoes are high in natural acidity and possess a tart sweetness that ensures they are best paired with medium bodied reds that have similarly pronounced acidity levels.
For simple, fresh tomato sauces go for something like this Sangiovese/Montepulciano blend from Ciu Ciu in Marche or this fragrant, lighter style of Syrah from the Languedoc region of France.
For dishes with a meat influence such as Bolognese we can go for something a little heavier, such as this rich Primitivo made by Francesco Mocavero near the Italian city of Lecce.
Carbonara (and other creamy sauces)
While a classic Carbonara doesn’t include any cream itself, the combination of egg and cheese certainly gives this dish a creamy texture.
To counterbalance this creaminess, we need a white that possesses high acidity and also some texture. Our pick would be Gavi di Gavi from the team at Tenuta Carretta in the Piemonte region of Italy.
Pasta with Pesto
Regardless of the style of pasta you serve with pesto, the green herbaceous flavour of the sauce is going to be the star of the show. This is particularly the case if you are lucky enough to live within close proximity to a wild garlic patch – a free-growing superfood that is currently abundant and perfectly in season across the UK.
With that in mind it is important to opt for a wine that is packed with savoury flavours as well as possessing bright acidity to match the nuttiness of the pesto. This biodynamic Passerina from Abruzzo would be a match made in heaven – the smoky and hazelnut elements of its flavour profile working perfectly with a punchy green pesto.
Macaroni (and other cheese based pasta)
A cheese-heavy Macaroni is one of Britain’s favourite comfort foods and the great thing is that there are all manner of wines out there that can act as an adequate pairing.
Ideally, we need a white wine with a creamy body to match the texture of the cheese sauce. A great everyday option would be Chenin Blanc from our friends at the Cannonberg Project. For something a little more decadent, why not try Viré-Clessé, produced by the Martin brothers at their estate in Burgundy.
