The best wines to pair with Amatriciana

The pasta all'amatriciana, spaghetti or bucatini according to preference, is a classic dish of traditional Lazio cuisine, in particular in the ancient village of Amatrice in the province of Rieti. As for all the dishes of the ancient regional cuisine, the ingredients are few and simple : long pasta, bacon, pecorino romano, tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil, chili pepper or pepper. The amatriciana pasta actually derives from an even older recipe, the gricia which did not include the use of tomatoes, introduced only after the spread of the vegetable in Europe following the discovery of the Americas. Amatriciana is a tasty and tasty dish . The sweet tendency of the pasta is well balanced by the acidity of the tomato. The bacon forms the fatty and oily part, the pecorino romano gives flavor and the pungent touch is guaranteed by black pepper or chilli pepper. Overall it is a dish with intense aromas, a good balance and an average complexity of flavors between the various ingredients.

The choice of wine to match is not simple. A wine with a rather harmonious profile is needed to contrast the spicier and tastier part of the dish, with moderate acidity to satisfy the characteristics of the pasta and tomato and to balance the greasy fat of the bacon. It is not a red wine dish , which in general would be too structured, intense and tannic, with the effect of covering the taste of amatriciana. Among the whites , wines with a soft, rich profile, good intensity and persistence and with not too high acidity are a good match. A good pairing could be with a Grechetto di Todi, a wine with a soft, persistent fruit and great taste balance. Rosé wines are particularly suitable to accompany an amatriciana pasta, provided they have a good body, a certain aromatic richness and gustatory persistence. So we will not choose the light, citrus and floral Rosé of Provencal style, but the rosé of greater character. We can orient ourselves on a good Cerasuolo d'Abruzzo , made with pure Montepulciano, which with its pleasant taste richness, its structure and aromatic intensity, stands up to the comparison with an important sauce such as amatriciana. Still to remain in the field of rosé wines that express a strong personality, we can focus on wines with good body and richness, such as the Negroamaro based rosé from Salento , the Calabrian ones produced with gaglioppo or the Sicilian ones based on Nero d'Avola. If you really can not do without a red, then choose a light, young and medium-bodied wine, slightly tannic and vinified only in steel, such as a Gamay del Trasimeno, a Frappato di Vittoria , being careful to serve the wine cool, at a temperature around 14 ° C.