What Are the Best Tuscan Wine Pairings with Food?

Tuscan Wine-Red Wines

Tuscan Wine-White Wines

• Vernaccia is an ancient grape, indigenous to the hill town area of San Gimignano, the only main area you find this grape. You will find this wine crisp and delicate, with floral and almond notes.
  
• Trebbiano is the region’s workhorse grape. It blends well to add acidity and neutrality. You can find this grape in the sweet dessert wine Vin Santo.
  
• Malvasia is used today in the production of Vin Santo.
  
• Moscadello di Montalcino, a specialty of Tuscany, is a slightly bubbly sweet wine.
  

• Pair older Pecorinos with a red Sangiovese-based wine, such as Brunello di Montalcino or Vino Nobile di Montepulciano. 

• Classic first courses include la ribollita and pappa al pomodoro.
  • First la ribollita’s main ingredients are leftover bread, cannellini beans, lacinato kale, cabbage, and inexpensive vegetables such as carrot, beans, chard, celery, potatoes, and onion. This dish pairs very well with a bottle of Chianti. 
  • Second, pappa al pomodoro combines a bread-based soup with tomatoes, bread, olive oil, garlic, basil, and other fresh ingredients. Chianti or Chianti Classico pair very well with this dish.
• Lastly, try Tuscan specialties such as pici (fat spaghetti) with veal ragu or a restaurant’s house-special ravioli. Brunello, Vino Nobile, or Chianti Classico pair well with this dish.

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Secondi (Second or Main Course)

Tuscan main courses include a variety of options.

• Grilled meats make a delicious entrée. Bistecca all Fiorentina, a large Porterhouse steak, offers a great local delicacy for two (or more) people.
• Also game meat, such as rabbit, is found in a specialty dish of stewed rabbit with olives.
• Lastly, Tuscans along the coastline often include fish.

Tuscan Wine Pairings for the Main Course:

• For meat lovers, the bigger the wine the better!
• First, Brunello di Montalcino such as Casanova di Neri, Poggio di Sotto, and Il Poggione pair very well with the meats of the main course.
• But fish dishes generally pair better with lighter reds such as Vino Nobile di Montepulciano.

Dolci (Dessert) 

Vin Santo (“Holy Wine”) is a sweet wine made throughout Italy, but is decidedly a Tuscan favorite.

• The white grapes of Malvasia and Trebbiano dry on cane mats or in bunches from rafters.
• Then, after several months, the grapes go through a press and age for at least three years in buildings where the temperatures rise and fall with the seasons.
• Finally, the resulting wine ranges from dry (slightly oxidized like Sherry) to sweet and opulent.
• Vin Santo tastes amazing on its own, or with almond cookies called Cantucci or Biscotti di Prato. Frescobaldi produces of many styles of wine, including Vin Santo.

In conclusion, Tuscan cuisine offers comfort and familiarity. It produces the perfect meal–for a summer’s day, or a winter’s night. Tuscan wine offers a perfect pairing for your meal, from beginning to end!