Bucatini all'amatriciana

Bucatini all'amatriciana

Assuming bucatini in a sauce of guanciale, tomato and chilli, finished with grated pecorino.

Amatriciana is rich pork fat, sharp tomato, salty pecorino and a little chilli. The wine needs acidity for the tomato and the fat, and fresh red fruit rather than heavy tannin or high alcohol, which turn bitter with the salt and hot with the chilli.

Pairs Perfectly. Nero d'Avola, Sicily, Italy. Ripe black cherry and plum with fresh acidity and soft tannin. It has the weight for guanciale and the freshness for tomato, and the pecorino's salt softens what grip it has.

Pairs Well. Carignan, Languedoc, France. Dark fruit, dried herbs and high acidity, a southern French red that cuts pork fat cleanly.

Pairs Well. Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy. Bright sour cherry, light tannin and lively acidity, an everyday bottle that suits tomato sauces.

Worth Seeking Out

Nerello Mascalese from Etna, Italy. Red cherry, herbs and a volcanic, savoury edge, with the acidity for tomato and the structure for cured pork.

Avoid

Big, oaky, high alcohol reds and delicate whites. Alcohol makes the chilli hotter and oak clashes with tomato, while light whites are lost against the pork.

Failing That

A Bobal, Utiel-Requena, Spain.

If All Else Fails

Rioja Crianza, Spain.

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