Title says it all. I’m making a ragu that is onion intensive, with chuck (and a few minor other things). Rigatoni is the pasta choice. The recipe calls for white wine to be added to the sauce. Any suggestions on pairing? Any classic suggestions?
I lied. I’m using short ribs instead.
I think pretty much any red would work. That sounds like a very accepting/forgiving dish.
That was kinda my thought. Any dry red with reasonable acidity… Funny thing, having that broad of a category actually makes it harder to select something.
Southern Boy eatin’ good!
I tend to like Northern Rhones with braised short ribs. Love the acidic cut that they add to a rich meat dish. Cali Cab or new world is too ripe for the pairing, IMHO. Had them a couple months ago with some Wind Gap, and loved the pairing.
I’m thinking Allemand . . . .
Swap out the white wine with red and serve the same or similar red
A top tier Dolcetto di Dogliani, especially something with a few years of age, works great with rich, simply prepared but high quality comfort foods.
New world cab or syrah
I’ve actually come to enjoy white wine with tomato-based sauces more than red wine. Any crisp white wine should work just fine.
Unless, you have lamb or some kind of game meat in the dish, in which case a red wine with nice acidity and some leathery funk would work beautifully.
Robert- you must know me well.
The short ribs are from our farm. Prime grade, grass fed with some grain supplement and hung (dry aged) for 35 days. My biggest problem is that there is more fat than meat!
I went with a 2009 Durand st. Joseph for the pot and will probably serve with a 1999 jaboulet hermitage and then the rest of the Durand. Should be good. It is an interesting recipe. The only tomato is tomato paste. If you don’t hear from me by Tuesday, it was not very good…
Is the recipe from the latest Cooks Illustrated? Interested to learn how it turns out.
I would think this dish might be better cooked with a white as directed. A red should still pair fine with it. I’ve been experimenting and sometimes finding that this old “knowledge” that pairing the same wine used in the dish is best does not always hold up. A long-time professional chef who has worked for wineries for many years said in a presentation I attended that they often find cooking with white wine works better for pairing with red wine, despite what we are all told.
So - the wines worked well with the dish. Yes - Brad, it was the Cook’s illustrated version and it was excellent. I switched red for white in the dish and it was probably a mistake. I will make it again and use the white for the pot. I also used 2 sweet onions and one white onion. Next time, i will only use white onions. The sweet onions added a slight sweetness that was slightly clashing with the overall savoriness. Wife and kids loved it. I think the gaminess of the syrah was a little too much for the dish. I also think the smoother hermitage worked better than the St. Joseph. Next time, I will make it with White wine and serve it with an older cote rotie if I feel like syrah or even an older cab/bordeaux.