Almost all party or any kinds of events have pasta on their food menu. That is because pasta is flexible enough to experiment. Pasta has no flavor on its own; the sauce it is smeared with is the real kicker to a good pasta experience. There are various flavors and tastes to be added on pasta to make it more interesting. Some classics pasta sauces are tomato-based, red, pesto sauce, creamy, etc.
Now, finding an excellent wine to accompany your pasta dish can be quite hard. You have to base the perfect wine from the sauce to create perfect harmony and the right balance. It is instead an art than science as there is no correct pairings, only perfect pairings that are experimented.
The sauce puts on a variety of flavors upon the pasta, based on the ingredients used in the sauce itself. It is worth taking note that the wine from Petrus vineyard should complement the ingredients used in making the sauce so you should be careful. If the wine overpowers the flavors of the pasta dish, then change the wine. With the right wine, you could create a perfect harmony where the wine brings out the rich tastes hidden in the pasta dish.
Tomato-based sauces on pasta dishes tend to have high acidity. With this in mind, you should seek out a wine that has a balanced acidity or even higher. Picking out a wine that doesn’t match out the acidity of the pasta dish would make the wine bland in taste and would be rendered undesirable. In terms of creamy pasta dishes, you should consider picking out the perfect white wine. Pasta like this needs a wine that is dry and preferably unoaked so the flavor of the wine can cut through the creamy pasta dish’s characteristics.
It is a brave thing to do as there are worst cases where the sauce overpowers the wine, vice versa, or even certain cases where the taste is enough to make your stomach churn and will put you on the fast lane to the nearest comfort room.
We don’t want that happening now, do we? But if you have zero ideas on how to pair pasta dishes and wine, we can suggest you the most classic pairings there are, and from that, you can experiment on your own.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is the most famous wine in the world. It is highly so because of its high acidity and excellent characteristics. It has the flavor of black currant as its primary, with a hint of other various flavors such as spices, coffee, mint, tobacco, cherry, vanilla, cedar, cassis, etc. Also, the high tannin content adds up to its complexities, which makes it more perfect for its pasta companion, especially pasta dishes with a tomato-based sauce. High acidic content is the main reason it is ideal for your pasta dish.
Zinfandel
Known for its vibrant dark red color, high tannin, and also high alcohol content. Zinfandel is available on different varieties with noticeable differences in tannin content and spice. The tannin content alone is enough to make it perfect for pasta dishes with tomato-based sauces. Additionally, the spice, the peppery flavor, and its flavors of cherries and berries can complement the tomato-based sauce very well. Lighter versions of Zinfandel can also pair with creamy pasta dishes. Bolognese, meatballs, sausage-based sauces are only some of the things Zinfandel can match with.
Pinot Noir
This wine is a much lighter wine than those that are in this list. It has fragrant, earthy aromas and flavors along with its light characteristic. Still, it is perfect to pair alongside tomato-based sauces such as marinara. There are also varieties of this wine that can pair with creamy pasta dishes, wines that have a fruitier flavor and aroma, making it very versatile.
It is also preferable to pair it with basil, making it a perfect pair with basil-pesto bases sauces, along with mushroom pasta. Commonly, people prefer Pinot Noir with strawberry and blackberry flavors with more earthy characteristics, though it is more pricey than the rest of the varieties.
People also tend to buy Pinot Noir because of its sensual nature, as people find it. For this, it is commonly an accompaniment for romantic dates and other events that correlates with romance.
Takeaway
Pairing wine and pasta can be very technical! Because you would have to find out every nooks and cranny of the ingredients that are used in the sauce to make a more solid idea to what wine you should buy. The purpose of the perfect wine would come after having a look at the ingredients. This can be very complicated at times. Nevertheless, all the troubles would be worth it when you finally find the perfect wine that will go well with your favorite pasta dish.
Author Bio
Scarlett Wells is a freelance writer and wine enthusiast. She is an active critique examining all levels of wine types. So she can produce reviews and articles that will help guide every consumer in selecting the right kind of wine to drink. Aside from that, she wrote a lot of blogs maximizing the real usage of wines. In her free time, she reads a lot about food and beverage pairing in order to help her become an effective mentor inspiring everyone to maintain a fit and fab lifestyle.
