Viva il Vino Italiano The word ‘Pasta’ offers a veritable mouthful of culinary possibilities, from Agnolotti to Spaghettini with about a million shapes in between, and Pasta is but one small part of the world of Italian cuisine. With the options pouring out of Italian kitchens in such plenty, one might be intimidated by the thought of meeting these gastronomic benchmarks with wine options. For anyone who has experienced these fears in the past, let there be celebration for there is good news to be had – Italian food goes wonderfully with Italian wine! Let’s start with the classic – Spaghetti and Meatballs. Flavours in this dish include ground beef, oily onions, green peppers, starchy pasta and of course tomatoes. Now, no discussion on food and wine pairing would be complete without a side note on tomatoes. They say (‘they’ being wine experts worldwide) that one should never drink red wine with tomatoes. No sir, you see, this would be an abomination to the palate because tomatoes contain a little-known flavour called ‘umami’ and red wine contains tannins (which adversely react with umami when combined to taste a bit like a piece of tinfoil) . As such, a cardinal rule in food and wine pairing is this: No red wine with tomatoes. But some rules are just made to be broken and the Italians have the inside scoop on this, for as long as pasta has been served in ceramic dishes, Italian diners have been drinking Chianti with Spaghetti and Meatballs. And I dare say they’ve been enjoying it too. Another fine Italian specialty is Bruscetta. Generally speaking, these are little pieces of toast topped with fresh herbs, anchovies and of course tomatoes. In this case the cardinal rule holds true – a red wine paired with this would likely taste extremely bitter. A good rule of thumb when pairing wines with salty foods such as this one (which are also high in umami) is to look for lighter styled fruity white wines. Suggested wines to compliment Bruscetta would be the whites of Northern Italy such as Verdicchio or Pinot Grigio. An all-time favourite Italian culinary masterpiece is Lamb Osso Bucco, often served alongside a rich stewed orzo mixture. With this Posturepedic-style comfort food I recommend some of the bigger guns in the Italian armoury such as Barolo, Barbaresco or Brunello di Montalcino. These wines have strong structured tannins that will stand up to the richness of the dish and the red fruit flavours in the wines will be a beautiful compliment to the taste of the lamb itself. One could scarcely say that they have fully considered the wines and foods of Italy without discussing one of the foods that this country does best and that is cheese. Some of the world’s most impressive cheeses hail from Italy – Mozzarella, Asiago and Gorgonzola just to name a few. Each cheese has a unique flavour profile which makes the ideal wine companions different for every cheese. Mozzarella, for example is a very versatile cheese with a mild flavour that could easily be overwhelmed by a strong flavoured wine. The ideal wine pairing for this then would be something along the lines of a Soave or an Arneis – both subtly flavoured white wines with a touch of acidity to stand up to the creaminess of the cheese. Asiago is a firm and salty cheese, making it an excellent match with a dry sparkling white wine such as Prosecco from the Fruili region in north east Italy. Gorgonzola has a completely unique character, featuring nutty flavours characteristic of blue cheese with a rich and creamy base. The classic pairing for this type of cheese is a strong red wine with some perceivable sweetness, something along the lines of an Amarone which offers robust dried fruit flavours with fairly high alcohol. From Asti Spumanti to Zenato Amarone, the Italian world of wine offers literally thousands of lovely libations that are sure to match their culinary kin. As with all wine selections, the element of utmost importance is personal preference, so eat good food and drink what you like with it. You really can’t go wrong with that. Top Italian Wine Picks Mionetto Il Prosecco IGT $14 – $18 Feudo Arancio Grillo $13 – $14 Melini Chianti $11 – $12 Masi Valpolicella Classico Superiore $13 – $16 Tommasi Amarone della Valpolicella Classico $53 –
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