What kind of wine would you pair with spaghetti with meat sauce?

Question

I am just now discovering that I love wine and have so far only tried sweet dessert wines. I want to drink wine with meals, so what wines are good with pasta or say chicken?

Answer 1

My first rule of wine, only drink wine that you and your guests like, period.

Dont let a food or wine snob bully you in to drinking something you dont like because "it will overwhelm the seafood" or some other such nonsense. I drink red wine with chicken all the time, because that is what I like, not once has that chicken ever been able to tell the difference.

That said, normal pairing with pasta and meat sauces would be chianti, merlot, cabernet, shiraz. All pretty full bodied dry to semi dry red wines. These wines are best at room temp or cellar temps.

Here is a thought, if you are new to wine and have a taste for the sweeter wines, yet you need a red wine, try lambrusco. Hey, it's italian ! Lambrusco is quite sweet, the only red wine you should serve cold.

If you want a white wine, not so sweet as a desert wine, a german spatlese would be a good choice or perhaps gewurvitzraminer (spelling ?)

If you want to drink the only true american wine, go buy a bottle of concord wine. Concord is the most prolific american dark grape. The wine tastes like concord grape juice pretty much. I am a dry wine guy, but I love a glass of concord from time to time.

Wine is a wonderful thing, keep trying new wines, you will find if you are like most people that your taste will shift to the drier wines over time. You will come to like that tanin feel, (pucker) and appreciate the subtle characteristics of the wine when not masked by so much sweetness. And, hey, if you dont, who cares, keep drinking what you like.

If you want a red that still has some sweet to it, in the desert catagory, pick up a bottle of Port some time. You dont need to spend a lot. Port is quite a bit stronger than wine, it is wine that has been fortified with more sugar during fermentation to boost the alchohol. After that is done, the wine is stabilized with preservatives and more grape juice is added. What you end up with is, a bit of kick, like a mild brandy, but with a sweet wine finish.

Look for inexpensive wine tastings in your area. It's a great way to explore.

enjoy,
John

Answer 2

With Spaghetti in a red sauce, try an Italian Primitivo. It is a great alternative to Chianti. For a white, I really like Terra Andina Sauvignon Blanc. Because you have only had sweet dessert wines, you may not initially like the dryer table wines because dryer wines contain more tannin. Try to find wines that are "semi sweet" or "demi-sweet" and work your way to the dryer wines.

I've been drinking wine for years and have a good size collection of wines from all over the world. Drink what ever wine you like and don't worry so much about pairing. Some wines will bring out the flavors of food more or balance the textures but there is nothing worse than trying to choak down a red wine just because you are having a red sauce. Experiment with the different wines from different regions and even from different wineries in the same region and find something you like.

Answer 3

A traditional red wine. Since this is an Italian based dish, some would tell you to put a chianti with it and it would work. But the stronger the flavor, the strong the taste of the wine. So with your spicier sauces you can use Zinfandels..even Barolos. For just your basic red sauce, I like to use a Shiraz (or a Sryah if not grown in Australia) or even a Valpiocella.

Think this as a general guideline. Red meat= red wine; white meat= white wine. Same with sauces. Again you can veer away from this, these are not laws. I tend not to, however. I find that white wine does not compliment the flavour of red meat as well as red wine does. Conversely, a red wine with a white sauce (or chicken or fish) can overpower the more delicate flavours.

Merlot is a good place to start for a neophyte wine drinker. You will find that they usually have one or 2 main flavours and that is it; very basic. When you move on to your more complex wines, like a zinfandel, not only will you notice flavours, but how it feels on your tongue as well.

For chicken, I like to use a big california chardonnay or a pino grigio

For fish, I tend to lean towards a chablis or a Reisling

For pizza, I use Valpiocella (try it, you'll love it)

For beef, go big....Zinfandel, Barolo, Cabernet Sauvingon

For desserts, eiswein, muscat are both really good and compliment many sweet things.

Answer 4

Red wine definately goes with pasta and meat sauce, I see a lot of people recommending Chianti, but if you have only had deserrt wines, I would recommend a grenache, or pinot noir or even a Shiraz and work up to it or you might not ever like it. It has an aquired taste. I too started on sweet wines, and have graduated so that I usaually drink reds. The ones I mentioned above are my favorites, but Merlot also works good. Also, trying putting about 1/3 cup wine in your sauce. It makes all the difference in the World.

Answer 5

NV or Vintage (Min. 7 year) Brut or Rose' Champagne will do well with heavy cream sauced pasta and seafood.
For red wine after the Champagne, make sure the vintage is ready if Chianti and Bordeaux (minimum 8 to 10 years). Lighter red such as Pinot Noir, should go will with your spaghetti with meat sauce and also chicken. Remember though not all wine are the same even from the same vintage, grape varietal and region. It all depends on the terrior(soil, climate, geography), and the wine making process and the blend in the case of Bordeaux and Meritage. I would suggest trying a few different bottles and discover it on your own. That's the fun of wine tasting/drinking.

Answer 6

Tradition says white with chicken and red with with beef, pork and lamb.

I say this since there will never be a white wine to equal a really fine red, red, therefore, to me, goes with everything.

Now, if you like sweet wine, I do as well, you might transition from sweet to a Cabernet, Merlot, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir or Shiraz by using an Italian effervescent wine called Lambrusco.

Lambrusco is underrated and is slightly sweet and can go with any meat. Serve really cold.

You will read a lot about serving Reds at room temperature. This is often misunderstood and some people serve reds too warm.

The concept of room temperature applies to French cellars which are generally about 53 degrees F. So, reds should be ever so slightly chilled in, say, Florida or southern Texas.

There are some world class red wines in California and Australia to compete very well with the established houses in France.

Don't look down on the screw top wine, without those how do we appreciate the occasional BV Founder's Reserve Cabernet or a Joseph Heitz Reserve. IMO one of the finest reds around under $20 is any red by Kendall Jackson (US). Pinfolds (an unlikely name for a red wine) from Southern Australia is really coming on strong, also generally under $20.

Lambrusco, by the way, is a screw top wine and wonderful with Pasta.

Answer 7

If you have a full-bodied spaghetti sauce, you might want to try a chianti with it. Otherwise, a cabernet with some spice to it would compliment something like Ragu or Prego and let the flavor of the wine be more bold.

With chicken it's more than the meat that will make the wine choice for me. If there is a spicy side dish, I would serve a chardonnay. Chardonnay also works well if the chicken is spicy too. If you're serving chicken in summer and you have more fruit to compliment the meal, I prefer a Reisling with it. Chateau St. Michelle is a Washington vineyard that consistently releases one of the best Reislings I've ever tasted. It's reasonably priced too (always a good thing). Bon Appetit.

Answer 8

A good Chianti classico is great with spaghettis and red sauces or a Valpolicello. With chicken, chardonnays or pino grigios and sauternes depending on what you are serving. With meats, merlots are smooth, cabernets have a bit of a bite and bourdeuxs you have to just taste to decide. Wine is an experience. You can learn what's best by asking your wine store what works with certain meals. You wil then learn by what you like and don't like. It's all relative to your own taste so much of the time but trust your favorite wine shop to show you the way not only from the beginning but even after you think you know what you want. We continue to learn and we and our friends do lots of wines and travel to lots of vineyards.

Answer 9

A nice Barolo, or a Barbera or a Barbera DI Alba are all great Italian wines from the Nebbiolo grape. They are generally more expensive then the Chianti made from Sangiovese grapes. Chianti was originally a cheap table wine but then they made the Chianti Clasico which improved the quality. The blend of Nobile DI Montepulciano and Sangiovese makes a nice Chianti. Brunello is another wine made with similar grapes from a more Southern region of Tuscany. All would be great with Spaghetti with meat sauce or meat balls.
Actually anything works with Spaghetti and a tomato based sauce. Zinfandel works great as well as Cab or Merlot. A nice blend is a wine of Cabernet Franc and Merlot usually found in France as a San Emillion. It's usually 60% cab Franc and 40% Merlot. But it can be blended differently. The most famous of these was Chateau Cheville Blanc a wine mentioned in the film Sideways. It was his most expensive bottle made from the two wines he detested. Merlot and Cabernet Franc. I can assure you it's a great wine. he drank it from a stirafome cup at a burger joint.

Spaghetti is easy to match to a wine since they all work as long as they are a good red. So it depends on your taste. My favorite would be the Barbera di albo or a good Brunello both have a good fruit forward taste not to tanic. . Barolo is better with Lamb or veal or steak.It's expensive but worth it. Usssually it starts at the 30 dollar range. Frescobaldi makes a nice Chianti called Nipozzano. It's price reasonable around 12 dollars at Costco. It's dry but flavorful. Go to a good wine store and ask questions. There are people there who love and know wines. At Costco you are safe because they buy good wines. Cost plus aka World Market has a great amount of choice and good deals. Trader Joe's has good cheap wines but don't buy most of their French wines because they are 5th growths. I'm exaggerating a bit but thats not what they do well. They have some Primativo which is like Zin but Italian. It's very good. Coppola make a nice table wine that works for Spaghetti. So there are a few brands. Malbec by Clos di Andes is great and so is the Norton brand. Both are in the 11 to 12 dollar range.Merlot and Carmanere is a smooth red wine. Cabernet Franc has a lot of fruit Cabernet Sauvignon will have more power and flavour. A California wine will be more fruit forward if it's from Nappa or Sonoma and may have more oak aging. A wine from from the central coast like San Inez or Santa Barbra will not be as big but have a more delicate character. By the same token that area makes a great Pinot Noir. Khulira is simply wonderful but 49 dollars a bottle. Pinot is called Burgundy in France when it comes from that region. Try a few combinations.

Answer 10

Wine With Spaghetti