Ragu and bolognese

Ragu and bolognese

Assuming a long simmered meat ragu with tomato and soffritto, served on pasta and finished with grated cheese.

Three things in this sauce all push the same way. The savoury depth of slow cooked meat, tomato and cheese makes tannin taste metallic and hollow, so a firm red turns bitter against it. The tomato also sets an acid floor the wine has to clear, or the glass tastes flat and soft beside the plate.

Pairs Perfectly. Barbera, Piedmont, Italy. Barbera is the rare Italian red with high acidity and almost no tannin, which is exactly the shape this sauce asks for: sharp enough to cut the fat and match the tomato, soft enough to leave the savoury depth alone. Sour cherry and dried herb sit straight on top of the soffritto, and it is an everyday bottle rather than a treat.

Pairs Well. Cru Beaujolais, France. Gamay from the firmer crus gives red fruit and real acidity with a tannin level low enough to stay out of trouble. It has more grip than plain Beaujolais and handles a meat sauce without hardening.

Pairs Well. Mencía, Bierzo, Spain. Unoaked Mencía brings slate, violet and black pepper on a bright acid line. It reads savoury rather than sweet, which is what a long cooked sauce wants beside it.

Worth Seeking Out

Xinomavro from Amyndeon, Greece. The red fruited style of this grape carries a tomato leaf note that lands on the sauce directly, with the acidity to go with it. Few people have tried it and almost everyone who does asks what it was.

Avoid

Firmly tannic reds. The savoury depth of the meat and cheese amplifies astringency, and a serious Cabernet or Nebbiolo goes metallic and hard against this plate.

Failing That

A Montepulciano d'Abruzzo, Italy.

If All Else Fails

Côtes du Rhône rouge.

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