What Wine Goes with Spaghetti? [Ideas for Different Recipes]
Wine and spaghetti is a love story as old as time, and I love being a part of it, especially with my friends and family. However, things aren’t as simple as popping a bottle of wine and having it with just any type of spaghetti. Spaghetti is almost as versatile as wine, so you need to pair them up just right so they draw out the best of each other. So, what wine goes with spaghetti?
Different kinds of wine can do the trick, depending on the spaghetti sauce. The general rule is that meaty spaghetti pairs well with red wine. Seafood spaghetti goes great with white wine. The details, such as whether you should pick dry or sweet wine, are yours to settle, depending on the specific spaghetti dish.
Poor selection of wine can diminish your dining experience as much as a good choice of wine can improve it, which is a lot in both cases. Therefore, choosing the right wine to pair with your spaghetti dish is just as important as choosing the right ingredients to make it. In the following paragraphs, I will explain what wine goes with different types of spaghetti sauces to ease your decision and make sure you make the best of your wining and dining.
What Wine Pairs Well with Spaghetti and Meatballs?
Although spaghetti and meatballs sound like a simple, if not “kindergarten dish,” in reality, you better believe it is a sublime meal. Some people really underestimate this dish because it is most popular among young children and is usually paired with coke. Nevertheless, I am here to tell you that it can be an exquisite dish if you pair it with the right wine; you just have to choose wisely.
Chianti
Chianti is a classic Italian wine with expressive fruity flavors. It is known to go astoundingly well with tomato-based dishes and sauces, such as spaghetti and meatballs. I like Chianti because of its high acidity, which balances out the flavors excellently, allowing you to feel the flavors separately so that each ingredient shines in its own right.
Barbera
Barbera is an Italian wine that pairs excellently with spaghetti and meatballs. Just like the Chianti, it has high acidity balancing the included flavors. Its acidity is supported by its expressive fruitiness, which is a godsend for tomato-based sauces — it goes amazingly with spaghetti and meatball sauce.
In addition, the Barbera wine has a slightly earthy flavor, which pierces through the flavors and matches the herbal dimension of the dish extraordinarily well.
Zinfandel
Zinfandel is an expressively fruity wine famous for its excellent pairing capabilities with spicy food. Therefore, Zinfandel is the best pairing choice if you like your spaghetti and meatballs on the spicier side.
Zinfandel is a crisp and refreshing wine, creating a contrast of flavors, which is desirable when pairing this wine with spicy food. It also has a generous alcohol content, which comes in handy to balance the flavors and give you a bit of a kick while dining.
Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir is the perfect choice for your spaghetti and meatballs if you want more subtle flavors, allowing the meal to dominate over slight grapy undertones. It is a very delicate wine with a substantial acidity, pairing excellently with tomato-based sauces.
I like its mellow earthy tones because they make this wine pair nicely with herbal spices in spaghetti and meatballs. Pinot Noir basically enhances the flavors of spaghetti and meatballs without overpowering them.
What Wine Pairs Well with Spaghetti Bolognese
I adore spaghetti Bolognese! Although it shares many similarities with spaghetti and meatballs, the Bolognese sauce is more complex and potent, requiring a different set of wines to be paired with.
Chianti Classico
Chianti Classico is an Italian wine that pairs amazingly with spaghetti Bolognese. Many take Chianti and Chianti Classico as the exact wine, and though they share many similarities, they are pretty different.
Chianti Classico ages for a minimum of 12 months, while Chianti ages for a minimum of three months. Therefore the Classico variety is deeper and more pungent, making it a perfect match for spaghetti Bolognese.
The Chianti Classico is considered a traditional Italian pairing wine, so if you like the classic Italian charm, you should definitely go with this wine. Because it ages for a substantial amount of time, the Chianti Classico isn’t as acidic as other wines, but its acidity is still very noticeable. This moderate acidity makes this wine an excellent pair for tomato-based sauces and fatty meats.
Sangiovese
Sangiovese is a medium-bodied classic Italian wine. Its high acidity makes this wine pair with spaghetti Bolognese exceptionally well. In general, high-acidity red wines pair great with tomato-based sauces, such as the Bolognese; this wine is no exception.
It is very fruity, highly fragrant, and slightly earthy, which is the recipe for a winning spaghetti Bolognese pairing wine. It also gives the flavor a subtle rustic dimension and an authentic Italian feel.
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is a full-bodied red wine that pairs well with a hearty meat-based dish like spaghetti bolognese. Its bold tannins and dark fruit flavors complement the rich meat sauce, making it a great match for this dish. Cabernet Sauvignon also has a high acidity level that helps to cut through the meat’s fat and tomato sauce’s acidity. It’s an excellent choice for those who want a more robust wine to complement the bold flavors of the bolognese sauce.
Syrah
The Syrah is an aromatic wine that will add aromas and flavors to your spaghetti Bolognese. Syrah is famous for pairing exceptionally well with the taste of black pepper. Since spaghetti Bolognese often has a slightly peppery flavor, it is an excellent choice for a spicy Bolognese sauce.
Moreover, it creates an excellent balance between the dish’s peppery notes and herbal tones. This is why it’s definitely one of my favorites!
What Wine Pairs Well with Spaghetti and Seafood Sauce?
Spaghetti and seafood sauce is one of the most refined, delicious, and nutritious spaghetti meals. However, it takes some real skill to cook it properly, as seafood can be tricky to cook. So, since you have already invested time and knowledge into your dish, you need to choose the perfect wine to go with it!
In general, spaghetti and seafood sauce goes with white and light wines; however, it would mainly depend on the dish itself and your preference for which bottle you choose.
Sauvignon Blanc
The Sauvignon Blanc is white wine known and loved for its refreshing properties. It is light-bodied, easy to drink, and highly acidic, with delightful fruity notes and a slight but noticeable sweetness. What makes this wine even better is that it pairs delightfully with everything from seafood to desserts.
Its expressive citrusy notes this wine has to enhance that particular seafood flavor, making your spaghetti and seafood taste even more intensely without overwhelming the palate. In addition, the Sauvignon Blanc has a subtly buttery palate, making your spaghetti smoother and decadent.
Chardonnay
The Chardonnay is a white wine with a more intense flavor, so if you like milder tones, it may not be the best choice for you. Nevertheless, it is a delicious wine with a very seductive palate. It has a buttery texture, and it is so rich it is almost creamy. It also has a strong oak flavor and vanilla, making it even more seductive.
It is known to pair exceptionally well with fish, but it does a fantastic job with seafood, too — trust me.
This highly versatile wine features fruity flavors and a well-rounded overall taste. Paired with spaghetti and seafood, it accentuates the seafood notes without overburdening the general flavor.
Muscat
Muscat is a sweet, fragrant wine and perfect for spaghetti and seafood. It appeals to those who prefer gentler tones as well as those who like their wine more on the dominant side.
It is expressively fruity and floral, creating a certain gentility about this otherwise aromatic wine. It also features notes of apricot, peach, orange blossom, and honey, all of which pair deliciously with spaghetti and seafood.
The Muscat wine includes several varieties and comes as dry, sweet, and sparkling wine. All of the Muscat varieties are suitable for spaghetti and meatballs, so whichever you choose will be the right decision.
Moreover, feel free to push the limit further and add some spice to your spaghetti with seafood, as Muscat is an excellent wine to pair with spicier food.
Temjanika
Temjanika is a white wine native to the Balkans. The grape variety this wine comes from, i.e., the Temjanika grape, grows in the Balkans, restricting the production of this wine elsewhere. If you can get ahold of a bottle, don’t think twice before pairing it with your seafood spaghetti.
The Temjanika wine is known as being one of the best wines for fish and seafood, so your spaghetti and seafood will taste indescribably delicious paired with it. It is soft, sweet, refreshing, and very gentle white wine, hinting of orange peel and rose petals on the nose.
It has high acidity, which is more than welcome when it comes to balancing flavors. Mid-palate, the wine expands into several more flavors, such as honey, nuts, and vanilla, making it even more suitable for spaghetti and seafood.
What Wine Pairs Well with Spaghetti and Vegetable Sauce?
Spaghetti and vegetable sauce is an excellent dish to pair with wine. It is a light and cheerful meal that goes deliciously with a wine that is just as light and bright. Depending on the vegetables included in the sauce, both red and white can do the trick nicely.
As a general pointer, if the sauce is tomato-based, it is best to go with a light red wine and pair white wine with non-tomato sauces. Still, this decision will ultimately depend on your preference, so make sure you pick a light wine, regardless of the color.
Pinot Grigio
Pinot Grigio is a light white wine and one of the best choices for spaghetti and vegetable sauce. This wine is excellent for vegetable sauces, including cream, carrots, peppers, mushrooms, and garlic. However, you can pair it with other vegetable sauces that don’t include tomatoes.
This is a light and crisp wine with high acidity, balancing out the vegetable flavors, the sweetness in particular. Thanks to the crispiness of this wine, it also brings out the natural vegetable sweetness, rounding everything out nicely with its acidity.
Nebbiolo
Nebbiolo is a red wine paired excellently with tomato-based vegetable sauces. It is light-bodied but full-flavored with complex tasting notes. Fruity and floral, this exceptionally delicious wine has an impeccable flavor-balancing ability.
It will tone down what needs toning and pop the flavors that need to be popping. I adore the generous acidity of this wine since it’s an excellent buffer for the tomato base.
Vermentino
This white wine is crisp and refreshing, making it an impeccable choice for vegetable pasta dishes. Spaghetti and vegetable sauce goes deliciously with this wine, mainly because it is highly acidic and slightly herbal.
This wine is one of the few that pair with both tomato and non-tomato sauces, so when in doubt, this is the wine to choose.
What Wine Pairs Well with Spaghetti Carbonara?
The rich and fatty spaghetti carbonara is a dish perfect as it is. However, pairing it with the right wine will do the trick if you want to enrich it and make it sinfully decadent. Spaghetti carbonara goes well with both red and white wine as long as they aren’t expressively sweet.
Prosecco
Many would overlook Prosecco as a spaghetti carbonara pairing because it is a sparkling wine. However, not giving this wine a chance would be just sad, as it pairs amazingly with spaghetti carbonara!
The gentle bubbles from this wine play a very important role in cleansing the palate so you can feel the next bite just as intensely as if it is the first time you are tasting it. Moreover, this wine’s taste complements the spaghetti carbonara’s flavor, creating an impeccably balanced flavor unit. Prosecco and carbonara are my all-time favorite pair!
Soave
If you like your spaghetti carbonara more on the lighter side, the Soave wine is the perfect pairing option for you. It is crisp and slightly mineral, resembling a sparkling wine just a tad. This property of the wine is excellent for balancing the flavor explosion that is the spaghetti carbonara, creating a more toned overall taste.
In addition, the slight citrus notes interlaced with the discrete herbal dimension make this wine excellent for spaghetti carbonara, as herbal spices are one of the signature marks of Italian cuisine.
