Best Wine With Pasta - A Guide to Every Dish

Most people have had this experience - you order a pasta you love, pick a wine that sounds nice, and the two don't quite go together. The wine tastes too heavy, or too sharp, or it drowns completely behind the sauce. The wine was probably fine on its own - it was the pairing that let it down.

If you've ever wondered what wine goes with pasta, the answer is simpler than you'd think. In Italian cooking, the sauce carries the flavour of the dish, so the best way to choose your wine is to match it to whatever's on top of the pasta. Once you know a few basics, ordering becomes a lot more fun and the meal tastes better for it.

Tomato-Based Sauces

Tomato sauces are acidic, so you want a wine with a similar level of acidity. A medium-bodied Italian red like a Sangiovese works well - the fruit in the wine balances the sharpness of the sauce, and neither one takes over.

If you're ordering something like a beef ragu pappardelle or a classic bolognese, a Chianti Classico is one of the best wines to pair with pasta like this. A slow-cooked ragu has more depth than a lighter fresh tomato sauce, so the wine can afford to be a bit bolder. For something with more spice - an arrabbiata, for example - a Primitivo is a good match. It's full-bodied with dark fruit flavours that hold their own against chilli.

Creamy and Cheese-Based Sauces

If you're looking for the best wine for carbonara, alfredo, or cacio e pepe, you're dealing with rich, buttery dishes that need a wine with some crispness to cut through the cream and cheese. A white like Soave or Greco di Tufo does the job well here - the acidity in the wine works with the fat in the dish, so each sip cleans your palate before the next bite.

If you prefer red, go for something lighter. A young Barbera will complement the richness without making the whole meal feel heavy. Avoid anything too tannic - a big Cabernet or an aged Barolo will clash with the creaminess of the sauce.

Seafood Pasta

This is where a lot of people play it safe with a Pinot Grigio, and honestly, that works well. It's light, clean, and lets the flavour of the fish come through. But if you're eating something richer like a lobster linguine or a pasta with shellfish bisque, you can go for a fuller white like a Gavi di Gavi or even a lightly oaked Chardonnay. The extra body in the wine matches the weight of the dish.

If the dish has a tomato base as well - like a linguine with prawns in a cherry tomato sauce - a dry rose is a good call. It sits between a white and a red, which makes it a good middle ground when the dish has both tomato and seafood working together.

Truffle and Mushroom Pasta

Truffle and mushroom dishes are earthy, rich, and tend to have a lot going on in terms of flavour. They need a wine with some weight to it. A Chiantiwill match the depth of the truffle, and these bigger wines work best when the truffle is the star of the plate. Anything too fruity or too light will get lost next to the truffle and you won't taste the wine at all.

For a mushroom risotto or a lighter mushroom pasta, a Dolcetto keeps things balanced without taking over.

Pesto Pasta

Pesto is herby, fresh, and a little nutty. You want a wine that mirrors that freshness. Vermentino is the go-to - it's a Ligurian white, which means it comes from the same part of Italy as pesto itself. Italian food and wine from the same region tend to work well together, and this is one of those pairings where you can really taste why. Sauvignon Blanc works too if you want something a bit more widely available.

A Few Things That Catch People Out

One of the most common mistakes is picking a heavy red for a light pasta. A big Barolo with a simple aglio e olio will flatten the dish completely - the wine takes over and you lose the subtlety of the garlic and olive oil. On the other end, a very delicate white alongside a rich, meaty ragu will disappear. The wine needs to match the weight of the food.

Another one is defaulting to the same wine every time. If you always order Pinot Grigio, you're missing out on how well a Greco di Tufo works with a carbonara, or how a Primitivo can transform a simple tomato sauce. Half the fun of eating Italian food is trying something you wouldn't normally pick.

When the Table Can't Decide

If everyone's ordering something different and you need one bottle that works across the board, go for a versatile Italian red like a Barbera or a Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. Both are medium-bodied with soft tannins, which means they won't overwhelm a lighter dish but still have enough flavour to stand alongside something richer. They're food-friendly wines that go with most pasta dishes on the menu.

You can always ask your waiter too - at 40 Dean Street, the team know the wine list and the menu inside out and they'll point you in the right direction based on what you're eating.

Try It at 40 Dean Street

The best way to find your favourite wine with pasta is to try it. Our wine list covers Italian and French bottles, with glasses available if you want to taste a few across the meal. The pasta is made fresh daily, so whatever you order, you're pairing your wine with something that was made that morning.

40 Dean Street, London W1D 4PX

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