The best wine pairings for spaghetti alle vongole

The ideal pairing does of course depend on how you make your spaghetti alle vongole - the classic Italian dish of spaghetti with white wine and clams - but in my book, the answer is simple: a young, unoaked, Italian white wine.

Goodness, there are enough to chose from! A simple Soave, Bianco di Custoza, Frascati, Falanghina, Vermentino, Vernaccia or Verdichio dei Castelli de Jesi, basic Sicilian whites - even a Pinot Grigio though be prepared to pay more than the lowest cut price offer for it.

Italian grape varieties grown elsewhere such as Vermentino and Pinot Grigio would do the trick but make sure it’s the classic Italian style rather than the off-dry Pinot Gris one.

You could of course drink any crisp dry white from elsewhere. Muscadet would be fine as would Chablis, Picpoul de Pinet or Albarino. Sauvignon Blanc I personally think is too powerfully aromatic for this simple dish.

A genuinely dry rosé - such as a Côtes de Provence or a Bardolino would also be a good pairing.

Including more tomato in the dish might mean you want a wine of greater intensity - say a late harvest Vermentino (intense but not sweet) or a Greco di Tufo from Campania, but I personally don’t think you can better this version from the Guardian’s excellent Felicity Cloake who assiduously road tests a range of recipes in her weekly How to Cook The Perfect . . . column.

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6 of the best wine pairings for spaghetti carbonara

Spaghetti carbonara - spaghetti with a creamy bacon and egg sauce - is one of my all-time favourite pasta dishes but what’s the best wine pairing for it?

I’d go for a white rather than a red - and a crisp dry Italian white at that.

* Pinot grigio - there’s so much ropey Pinot Grigio around it’s easy to forget its virtues as a crisp, clean, immensely food-friendly white. Look out for ones from the Alto Adige region. Pinot Bianco (aka Pinot Blanc) would be good too

* Gavi di Gavi - another very popular Italian white for those who like a fuller, slightly smoother white

* Soave - same reasoning. Smooth, dry, brilliantly food-friendly.

* Picpoul de Pinet - a crisp white from the Languedoc coast that would work really well too

* Chablis - also works well with creamy sauces, and with ham

* Teroldego - a light Italian red that would rub along well if you wanted a red.

Note: as usual with pasta it’s the sauce you’re matching not the pasta shape so these wines would go equally well with fettucine or tagliatelle treated the same way.

6 of the best pairings for spaghetti bolognese

Given the arguments about how to make a bolognese sauce it’s hardly surprising there should be a difference of opinion about what wine to serve with spaghetti bolognese but here’s what I would go for:

Best red wines with spaghetti bolognese

* a medium-bodied Italian red such as an inexpensive Chianti, Montepulciano d’Abruzzo or a simple Sicilian red. It’s the acidity in Italian reds that makes them so refreshing

* Italian grape varieties such as barbera and sangiovese made elsewhere

* inexpensive Languedoc or Roussillon reds

* Zinfandel. Always good with tomato-based pasta sauces

Can you drink white wine with a bolognese sauce?

Absolutely especially if the sauce is made with white wine or includes milk like Anna del Conte's ragu then you’ll find it will work really well. I suggest a dry Italian white such as Verdicchio.

What about beer with bolognese?

Maybe another surprise but if you use beer rather than wine to make your bolognese sauce and include bacon and a little smoked pimenton for a smoky note you’ll find it’s a terrific pairing. Try a Belgian-style blonde ale or an amber ale.

Note: these drinks will work with other pasta dishes served with a bolognese sauce. It’s the sauce you match not the pasta shape.

For wine pairings with other pasta sauces see

Wines to match different pasta sauces