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Italian Wine Pairings for Everyday Food, Page 3
Pairings at a Glance
Showing 21–24 of 24 dishes
Crab
Crab meat is sweet, delicate and saline; the wine has to carry the sweetness without competing with it. Vermentino di Gallura, Pecorino d'Abruzzo and Franciacorta Brut work across cold and warm preparations. Skip oaky whites; the wood overwhelms.
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Rack of lamb
Rack of lamb is the most refined cut: tender ribs, a herb crust, fast cooking. Wines with elegance and structure work best. Mature Nebbiolo (Barolo, Barbaresco), refined Etna Rosso or aged Brunello match the dish's restraint. Avoid heavily extracted, modern-style reds; they overwhelm.
Perfect grape varieties
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Sirloin steak
Sirloin sits between fillet's leanness and ribeye's richness. The wine spectrum is wide. Sangiovese di Toscana (Chianti Classico, Rosso di Montalcino) is the canonical Italian match; Aglianico and Nero d'Avola hold their own with smokier preparations. Avoid sweet reds; they sit oddly against beef savouriness.
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Beef stew
Beef stew is slow-cooked: collagen breaks down, sauces concentrate, herbs and root vegetables add savoury depth. Wine with similar slow evolution works best. Aged Nebbiolo (Barolo, Barbaresco), Aglianico del Vulture and Sagrantino di Montefalco match the depth. For a lighter stew, Nero d'Avola or a young Aglianico keeps things lively.
Perfect grape varieties
Also worth trying
Appellations to explore
