Quel vin pour accompagner les pâtes ?

In France, pasta runs from the rushed weeknight dinner to the holiday table, and the wine can follow the same scale. The first guide is the sauce more than the shape. Tomato sauce calls for a supple, low-tannin red with bright fruit; a cream sauce, for a round white that matches its softness.

Coquillettes and Everyday Pasta: Simple, Fruity Wines

Coquillettes, small curved elbow pasta, are a French weeknight classic: with butter, with ham, with a little grated cheese. A dish this simple needs neither oak nor tannin. A Gamay from Beaujolais, such as a Fleurie, brings fruit and freshness; a light, dry white works just as well.

With spaghetti or macaroni in tomato sauce, the same approach holds. A low-tannin red handles the acidity of the tomato, where a heavily oaked or very concentrated red would taste harsh. A red Rully, Pinot Noir from the Côte Chalonnaise, plays on finesse. Crozets, the small pasta squares of Savoie, lean instead toward the region’s whites.

When grated cheese takes over, Comté or Gruyère melted into buttered pasta, white wine takes the lead. A dry white from the Jura or Savoie answers the nutty flavor of the cheese without weighing down an already rich dish.

Raviole du Dauphiné: From Fasting Days to Feast Days

Raviole du Dauphiné is a PGI. These small, puffed squares are made of thin soft-wheat pasta filled with Comté or Emmental, fresh cheese and parsley sautéed in butter. They are made in towns of the Drôme and Isère departments, around Romans, and cook in about a minute in simmering water.

With no meat inside, ravioles were first a dish for fasting days, then for celebrations. In the 19th century, “ravioleuses” went from house to house to make them on the eve of holidays; in 1873 one of them, Mère Maury, settled in Romans, still the main production center.

Its soft-wheat flour sets it apart from classic dried pasta, made from durum wheat semolina, and its very thin dough explains the quick cooking. Ravioles were once served as a first course, but also after the chicken whose broth had been used to cook them.

The cheese and parsley filling calls for a crisp, dry white rather than a red. A Roussette de Savoie, made only from the Altesse grape, keeps things light.

Served in a cream sauce, ravioles take a rounder white, such as a Chardonnay-based Rully blanc. The same white can then carry through the whole meal, from the first course to the chicken.

Salmon, Tuna or Zucchini Pasta: What to Pour

What wine goes with salmon pasta?

With salmon pasta, a dry white made from Chardonnay or Chenin Blanc matches the cream and the richness of the fish. A lightly oaked white Burgundy or a Loire Chenin keeps enough freshness for the dish to stay light.

What wine goes with tuna pasta?

With tuna pasta, a dry Provence rosé or a dry white from southern France suits the firm fish and the tomato sauce that often comes with it. A light red also works when the sauce is lifted with olives and capers.

What wine goes with zucchini pasta?

With zucchini pasta, a crisp, dry white, Loire Sauvignon Blanc or Provence Rolle (Vermentino), follows the mild vegetable and the herbs. If the sauce brings in tomato and eggplant, a dry rosé or a light red takes over.

Where can you buy wine for pasta direct from the winemaker?

You can buy wine for pasta direct from the winemaker on Avenue des Vins. Each wine’s page names the producer who made it.

See also: Wine and Cheese - Wines and fish - Tartiflette Wine Selection