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Wine With . . . Spaghetti
by Paul Lukacs and Marguerite Thomas
Good wine isn't only for special occasions, and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money. So too with good food. With a little effort, a simple spaghetti supper can taste delicious--especially if the meal is enhanced by an equally delicious bottle of wine.
The spaghetti supper we have in mind isn't one in which you make either the pasta or the sauce by hand. We're all for spending long hours in the kitchen preparing elaborate dishes, but we don't (and don't want to) do that every night. Some evenings we throw dinner together quickly, using prepared ingredients--in this case, a box of dried pasta and a jar of marinara sauce. For this issue of "Wine With," we did take an extra ten minutes or so to chop an onion, mince some garlic, and sauté the mixture with some ground beef, all of which we added to the prepared sauce. We then let everything simmer and thicken. While the pasta cooked, we made a simple green salad and grated some Parmesan. The whole operation took less than half an hour.
We tried fourteen different wines with our spaghetti--all red, and none costing more than $15 a bottle. About half were Italian, representing a variety of regions and grape varieties, but we included wines from Argentina, Australia, California, Chile, France, South Africa, and Spain as well. Almost all of them fared okay, suggesting that this old-fashioned staple is a quite wine-friendly dish. The wines that stood out, though, regardless of origin, did have a common profile. They all tasted of sweet fruit, but they all also had a firm acidic structure. In this, they echoed the tomatoes in the sauce, so that drinking the wine gave the dish something of a lift. The wines that fared less well lacked structure so seemed too sweet (this was especially true of both an Australian Shiraz and a California Zinfandel), or (like a red blend from Puglia) they seemed too heavy. We also discovered that the wine's bouquet made a big difference with this uncomplicated dish. The five we're recommending all proved especially fragrant, and their aromas provided an extra level of nuance and subtlety that enhanced the experience. Each in its own way made the food taste better--which, after all, is the whole point of wine with dinner, no matter what you're eating.
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Costaripa, Lombardy (Italy) "Mazane" IGT 2004
(Importd by Empson USA)
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$14 |
This light bodied but gutsy wine is made from indigenous Marzemino grapes, grown near Lake Garda. Its alluring floral aromas drew us in, and its ripe, red cherry flavors, followed by a kick of Italian acidity, made for a very tasty match. In Don Giovanni. Mozart refers to wines made from this grape as "Eccelente Marzemino"--an excellent recommendation indeed.
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Gallo Family Vineyards, Sonoma County (California) abernet Sauvignon "Sonoma Reserve" 2003 |
$15 |
At first sip we feared this plush and ripe California contender might be too soft to stand up to the spaghetti sauce. When we sat down for dinner with it, however, it rose to the occasion with enough structure and oomph to provide pleasant partnering for our pasta.
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Goats do Roam in Villages, Coastal Region (South Africa) 2003
(Imported by Vineyard Brands)
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$14 |
From South Africa comes this dark and earthy wine highlighted by flashes of spice, pepper, dark chocolate, and blackberries, all of which combined to emphasize the layers of meaty flavor in the spaghetti sauce.
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Lulu B., Vin de Pays d'Oc (France) Syrah 2004 (Imported by Boisset America)
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$8 |
We were surprised to discover that behind the frivolous label on this bottle lies a very likable wine. Yes, it is uncomplicated and undemanding, but this Syrah has true varietal character that is in every way a good match for the comforting, honest flavors of spaghetti with meat sauce.
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Toscolo, Chianti (Italy) 2004 (Imported by Empson USA)
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$11 |
Aromatically appetizing, firm on the palate, and abounding with bright, berry flavors, this wine also boasts the cleansing acidity one expects from Chianti. The brisk acidity and light tannins on the finish form an opportune foil for the natural sweetness of tomato sauce.
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