Cacio e Pepe

Cacio e Pepe

Cacio e pepe is pecorino and black pepper bound to pasta and nothing else, salty and sharp with pepper, so the wine must cut the cheese fat and let the pepper ring out. A crisp, high-acid white is the natural fit. Avoid oak and heavy body.

Pairs Perfectly

A Gavi, Piedmont, Italy. Cortese is all citrus and mineral cut, slicing through the salty pecorino while leaving the pepper room to speak.

Pairs Well

A dry Riesling, Mosel Trocken, Germany. Bone-dry and razor-sharp, it scrubs the cheese fat clean.

A Pecorino, Abruzzo, Italy. The aptly named grape gives a high-acid, faintly saline white that suits the dish and costs little.

Avoid

Oaked, heavy whites and tannic reds, which muffle the pepper and clash with the cheese.

Failing That

A Soave, Italy.

If All Else Fails

Picpoul de Pinet, France.

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