Food and Wine » Wine and Pairings » Best wines for Italian food This lightened makeover of a heavier classic subs turkey sausage subs for fattier pork, puréed cottage cheese for béchamel, and a splash of olive oil for nearly half a cup of butter. Recipe: Lasagna with Sausage Ragù ReduxLively acidicy in this wine makes for bright, crisp cherry fruit, which plays off the tomatoes in the lasagna (acidic tomatoes can kill a low-acid wine). A hit of pepper in the Carignane echoes the spice in the Italian sausage. Recommended bottle: Poets Row 2010 Carignane (Alexander Valley). Cabernet Sauvignon is the name of both the grape and the wine it produces. The primary taste of this wine is black currant, but other overtones may include blackberry and mint. Cabernets are hearty and rich and thus go best with tomato-based red sauces. Chianti is a strong, bold red wine that is perfectly suited for flavorful, well-seasoned sauces. It pairs best with tomato-based red sauces, but will also work with cream- or oil-based sauces.

Not quite as harsh as other reds, merlot is mellow with flavors of plums, black cherry, violets, and orange. It is best paired with tomato-based red sauces. Pinot Noir is a light red wine with flavors that include earth, leather, vanilla (from the oak), and jam. This versatile wine goes well with tomato-based red sauces, but will also work with cream- or oil-based sauces.best wine selection dc Sangiovese is a hefty red wine that goes wonderfully with spicy Italian dishes. where can i buy taken wineBest paired with tomato-based red sauces, it will also work with cream- or oil-based sauces.buy german wine uk Zinfandel is a deep red wine. dry red wine mixed drinks

Spicy and peppery, with a hint of berries or dark cherries, this wine goes best with thick, tomato-based red sauces. Depending on where it's grown and how it's processed, this white wine can taste semi-sweet or sour, heady or light. Typical flavors are apple, tangerine, lemon, lime, melon, and oak. Like most white wines, it is best paired with cream- or oil-based sauces, but can also be served with a light, tomato-based red sauce.dry red wine mixed drinks Pinot Gris and Pinot Grigio are actually the same white grape, with two different names: In Italy and California this wine is known as Pinot Grigio, while in Oregon and France it's known as Pinot Gris. best dry white wine under 15This wine is best paired with cream- or oil-based sauces, but can hold its own with tomato-based red sauces, as well. Riesling is usually made to be a sweet wine, although it can also create a dry wine as well.

The taste of this wine is affected by where it is grown - Californian Rieslings tend to be dry and have a melony taste, while German Rieslings are more tart and 'grapefruity'. Pair Riesling with cream- or oil-based sauces. Typically very light, this wine often tastes of grass and apple, and has a soft, smoky flavor. Sauvignon Blancs tend to be crisp and acidic, which make them a nice match for cream- or oil-based sauces.Match red wine with food A guide to help you pair red wine with food.Sign up for our newsletter and receive discount coupons, recipes, and more! Food & Wine Pairings with Traditional Italian Meals Italiano’s gladly presents you a list of food and wine pairings just in time for the holidays! If you’d like to dine out with the family at Italiano’s or dine in at home, this wine pairing list we’ve provided will make your meal absolutely superb. One very traditional way to approach Italian wine is to pair regional wines with provincial recipes. It’s really quite simple - if you're cooking a meal from Tuscany, you’d typically want to stick with wines from Tuscany;

if a Sicilian centered item is on the menu, you should then look for regional Sicilian wines. This is unquestionably one of the most traditional starting points for wine pairings, however, taking the easy way out can also be limiting. At times the best food and wine pairings make the patron step outside of his or her natural restrictions, so to speak. Below are a few tips for pairing your wine selection with your dish. Apéritifs and cocktails: These drinks pair best with appetizers and drinks before a meal. Sparkling wines work great to start off - for example; Prosecco or Spumonti Brut. Seafood, fish dishes, and cream based sauces: White wines are often better with seafood and fish based dishes. Try a Chardonnay, Falerio, Fiano di Avellino, Pinot Bianco, or Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Veal, pasta in tomato or meat sauce, chicken: Light-bodied or medium-bodied reds are ideal; pour Barbera, Bardolino, Chianti, Dolcetto, Grignolino, Lambrusco, Merlot, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Nebbiolo, Rosso di Montalcino, or Valpolicella.

Game, red meat, roasts, and aged cheeses: Full-bodied reds are the most appropriate and suitable for reat meats and aged cheeses; having Amarone, Barbaresco, Cabernet Sauvignon, Taurasi, or Vino Nobile di Montepulciano would all work best with your dish. Desserts and pastries: Sparkling or sweet wines pair wonderfully; try an Asti Spumante, Malvasia, Moscato d'Asti, or Vin Santo. Call Italiano’s at 281-860-2225 to book your holiday party today! Italiano’s is the perfect venue for your next event!Book your event »The best tip on pairing wine with pasta is to ignore the pasta and pay attention to the sauce. Pasta is simply a canvas to deliver the accompanying ingredients. For example, the Apulian specialty rigatoni ragu barese is a rustic, meaty tomato-based dish. A dish like this needs a wine pairing with enough oomph to hold up against roasted tomato and red meat. If you’re thinking red wine, you’re right, but which one? It so happens that from the very same area in Italy (Apulia, the boot of Italy) you’ll find a wine called Primitivo which has a powerful nose of sun-kissed red berry flavors and a medium body with the right amount of structure to match the dish.

Here are 5 popular pasta dishes with a selected wine style as well as several suggested wines (both Italian and otherwise) to get you started. We’re not suggesting this is the only way you could enjoy these wines or pastas, just one way. Many roads lead to Rome, as it were. And, hey, there’s only one way to find out. Tomato-based sauces are powerful, high acid and are often blended with rich, red meats. Because of the acidity in tomatoes, a relatively tart red with middle-weight body is your best option. As much as this sounds limiting, there are a ton of different grape varieties (and blends) that will happily fill this role. As you add more richness (meat, cream) you can move up in body, but definitely keep the fresh acid!  Here are a few examples: Primitivo (aka Zinfandel), Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, Sangiovese (Chianti, etc), Cannonau (Grenache), Negroamaro, Nero d’Avola, and Rhône Blends It’s hard to find a wine that won’t pair fairly well with cheese, so instead, think of this pasta style as an opportunity to try some of the more texture-based, nuanced pairings.

For example, a white wine with some creaminess to it, like an oak-aged Italian Trebbiano or Chardonnay, is going to create a congruent pairing and highlight the creaminess in the cheese (think ricotta!). Also, lighter more floral red wines are another awesome pairing partner with tart, intense hard-cheese pasta, especially if there are mushrooms or root vegetables involved in the sauce. Here are a few options to try: White: Trebbiano di Lugana, Sicilian Chardonnay, Ribolla Gialla, Red: Langhe Nebbiolo, Nerello Mascalese, Pinot Noir (or Italian Pinot Nero from Oltrepo Pavese) and Sangiovese If you look up great coastal Italian recipes, you’ll discover that many contain some anchovies, clams, or some sort of seafood. Being surrounded by the Mediterranean is an essential part of coastal Italian cooking. Perhaps this is why the Italians make such deliciously lean, acidity-driven white wines, often with a sense of refreshing bitterness. Naturally, lean to middle-weight white wines are the way to go for most seafood based pastas unless there is tomato as well, and then you’ll want to look into a rosato (Italian rosé).

Here are a few top picks: Pinot Grigio, Verdicchio, Vernaccia, Picpoul de Pinet (from France), Grenache Blanc, and Muscadet While most of us are familiar with the “classic” pine nut and basil pesto, you can really make pesto with whatever greens and nut pairing you desire: basil-walnut, parsley-pistachio, peanut-cilantro, hazelnut-mint… you get the idea. The real trick to matching these different pestos with wine is by simply acknowledging the green is the centerpiece of the dish. As soon as you do, whatever wine you choose (be it red, white or bubbly) should in some way be a harmonious, congruent pairing with the green. For the most part, you’ll find that herbaceous wines (like Sauvignon Blanc) are best suited. Of course, there are many amazing savory, herb-driven wines out there, so don’t let this list hamper your creativity. Here are some examples to get you thinking: Fiano d’Avellino, Friuli Sauvignon Blanc, Vermentino, Gavi, Grillo, Catarratto, Picpoul de Pinet and Grüner Veltliner