Meatballs

Meatballs

Assuming beef and pork meatballs browned and then simmered in tomato sauce, with grated cheese over the top.

Savoury depth from meat, tomato and cheese normally makes tannin taste metallic, and that is the trap on this plate. What rescues it is the plate itself: the salt in the cheese and the fat in the meatball both soften tannin, so a firm red that would be harsh on its own turns round and sweet here. The tomato still sets an acid floor, so the wine needs sharpness as well as structure.

Pairs Perfectly. Chianti Classico, Tuscany, Italy. Sangiovese is built from sour cherry, tomato leaf and dried oregano, which is close to a description of the sauce, and its acidity meets the tomato head on. The tannin is firm but the salt and fat on the plate mute it exactly, which is why this pairing has survived four hundred years of people not thinking about it.

Pairs Well. Cabernet Franc, Loire, France. Raspberry and redcurrant with a bay leaf and graphite savouriness, light on tannin and high on freshness. The herbal edge runs straight into the sauce.

Pairs Well. Zweigelt, Austria. Sour cherry and violet with almost no tannin at all, which takes the risk out of the whole question. Cheap, cheerful and better than it sounds.

Worth Seeking Out

Susumaniello from Puglia, Italy. Nearly extinct twenty years ago and now the most exciting thing in the heel of Italy. Dark berry fruit and dried herb with soft tannin and real freshness, and it costs very little.

Avoid

Heavily oaked reds. The vanilla and toast read sweet against tomato, and the tannin stacks on the savoury depth until both taste hard.

Failing That

A Valpolicella, Veneto, Italy.

If All Else Fails

Côtes du Rhône rouge.

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