The best advice for matching wine with pasta is forget the pasta and focus on the sauce. The sauce determines the harmony. Tomato sauces are usually very strong and acidic.
Because those dishes are acidic, it is best to use red wine with medium body. If the wine does not match the strength of the sauce it will taste too bland.
How to Choose Wine for Pasta
For pasta with simple tomato sauce, for example marinara, Dolcetto is perfect. This wine, whose name means “little sweet”, has enough body, acidity and fruit for lighter tomato dishes. Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, Zinfandel and Barbera also match the tomatoes well without being too heavy or too weak.
Chianti Classico is a wonderful choice for any red sauce, even for creamy vodka sauce with tomato.
Meat sauces like Bolognese on fettuccine or pappardelle match well with dark, fruity red wines like Shiraz, Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon. Still, Italy has more than only its famous ragu alla Bolognese. There is also the Campania ragu alla Genovese, where you do not use tomatoes, but slowly cook beef with carrots, celery and onions for ziti.
For that dish, Irpinia from the wine Coda di Volpe is idael.
Because of its light body and bright taste of red fruits, Pinot Noir works for many various pasta dishes. Its earthy notes are especially nice together with sauces from mushrooms or truffles. Also, light red wines match well with creamy sauces.
Fettuccine Alfredo is a heavy dish, so it requires wine that can “cut” the smooth sauce without overwhelming it. Chardonnay with a buttery feel goes well through the creamy Alfredo sauce. Pinot Bianco is a full white wine that matches creamy and cheesy dishes.
Dry Riesling with high acidity is a grate choice for mac and cheese.
When you eat pasta with seafood, choose light white wines, so that the wine does not cover the taste of the sea. Pinot Grigio and Verdicchio work well here. Verdicchio, a white wine from the Marche region in Italy, removes the fat and matches well with seafood.
For pesto, the best choices are Pinot Grigio, Verdicchio, Vernaccia, Picpoul de Pinet, Grenache Blanc and Muscadet. Dry rose is also good, because it is not too sweet. If the pasta is rich and bold, choose bold wine.
If it is subtle, go for lighter variants. Experimentingis part of the fun.