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Wine Advocate Weekend Pairings: Pasta

There’s almost nothing more comforting than a heaping bowl of warm pasta. 

At one-Michelin-starred Faro restaurant in Bushwick, Brooklyn, chef/owner Kevin Adey raises the cozy bar by adding chicken that’s been cured and then cooked in rich duck fat. 

To offset the richness, Adey brightens the pasta with chili flakes and fresh basil. "The finished dish should have a small amount of spicy, cheesy and slightly winey basil broth in the bottom of the bowl," notes Adey.

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(Photo courtesy of Faro.)

"It's a myth that wine used for cooking should be cheap [or a week old]," says Oregon reviewer Erin Brooks. "Cook with great wine because the better the wine used in a recipe, the better the expression of the dish. I cook with wine often and enjoy using the same wine in a recipe as I do for the table. Chef Adey's bucatini is the perfect opportunity to let one wine carry an entire meal. I would (naturally) go for an Oregon Chardonnay, which has enough texture and oomph for a creamy, cheesy pasta but isn't overpowered by oak. Try Domaine Serene's 2016 Chardonnay Evenstad Reserve, a wonderfully rich expression of Oregon Chardonnay. You only need a couple of ounces for the bucatini, so you'll have plenty to enjoy at the table." 

“You cannot make a more expensive pasta dish than this, but that is not as important as the fact that you cannot make a more delicious pasta dish,” says Fabio Trabocchi, chef/owner of his eponymous Washington, D.C. restaurant empire, of his sinful pasta dish chockfull of butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano and white truffles.

“Although I had eaten black truffles when I was a child, I’d never seen a white truffle until I went to work for Silvano Pettinari in Corinaldo,” he recalls, thinking of the sound of the truffle slicer in the kitchen. “Eventually, because of my obvious enthusiasm—and because he was a nice guy—Silvano gave me a truffle. I took it home and cooked this pasta dish.”

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(Photo courtesy of Fiola.)

"White truffles, you say? There's no better match to the great white tuber than Italy's Barolo, 'the king of wines, wine of kings,'" says Italy reviewer Monica Larner. "There are many excellent wines to choose from, but one Barolo that stands out for its elegance and finesse is the Fratelli Alessandria 2013 Barolo Monvigliero. When made in the best vintages such as 2013, Nebbiolo gives off ethereal whiffs of violets, licorice, cola and you guessed it, white truffle. If you can, find an older vintage of this wine from 2010, 2006 or 2001, even better yet." 

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