Pairings | Valtellina

The best wine pairings for vitello tonnato

Posted by Fiona Beckett (Google+) on August 15 2025 at 12:20

One of the best hot weather dishes, this piquant dish of cold poached or roast veal (or sometimes pork) with a tuna, anchovy and caper mayonnaise invariably pops up on menus at this time of year. But what to pair with it?

(You may also come across a vegetarian version based on tomatoes which I have to say is equally good. There’s a recipe here.)

As with most dishes it’s more about the sauce than the basic ingredient. Given that’s a tuna and anchovy mayonnaise that’s the key element you’ve got to match.

Here are some ideas that might help.

* as it originally comes from Piedmont a Piedmontese white like Roero Arneis or a Gavi seems a good place to start. Other neutral dry Italian white wines such as a Vermentino or even a quality Pinot Grigio from the Alto Adige would be a good match too.

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